


Price of a Diamond

by Najti



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Homestuck Stabdads, Ashen Romance | Auspistice, Crushes, Dead Aradia, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Gamzee Makara/Karkat Vantas Moirallegiance, Good Moirail Gamzee Makara, Hemospectrum, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Purring Trolls (Homestuck), Quadrant Vacillation, Trolls on Earth, Weird Fluff, basically hemospectrum means less but still exists, humans and trolls on one planet, or more like spades stab dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-05-25 11:39:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14976410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Najti/pseuds/Najti
Summary: “Just one more question and you're good to go.”“What's your blood color?”(AU where all trolls and humans live on one planet and some lies were told. Personally recommended for both fluff and angst lovers~)(I honestly have no idea how to describe this fic)





	1. Registration

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Questionable](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13104831) by [Just_another_Gamkar (NekoKayia)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoKayia/pseuds/Just_another_Gamkar). 



> Inspired by the linked fic, damn, I love that thing! QwQ I wish it was continued!
> 
> Also, I'm GamKat trash~  
> This fic will be fluffy with angst and my weird headcanons, feel warned~!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revealing secrets with purple and red.

“Just one more question and you're good to go.”

 

Well, his dad definitely wasn't the best parent material existing on this planet, that was clear. Shit, he didn't want, wait, he _said_ he _couldn't_ go with his son to the registration, but how was he supposed to get through this crap alone without throwing a fit?!

 

“What's your blood color?”

 

That's how on the chair right next to him landed his moirail instead of father. Thankfully, there were no laws against that because Karkat was sure as hell it would be much harder for him to answer all those pointless questions without even a snarl.

 

But at that moment growls were the last thing he would do, mind gone completely blank, all the scenarios disappeared in a second. Shit, he fucking knew they would ask about blood and hemospectrum position, two weeks should've been enough to find a solution to that problem. Just not let them know you're different, just don't let them know you're a-

 

“Karbro’s a Mutant, motherfucker”

 

Just barely keeping himself from flinching, the small troll moved his eyes onto his companion’s face. That big grin was still present, almost as if he didn't just reveal the secret the young Vantas had been keeping for his entire fucking life.

 

Anger was slowly building up inside him but it was not the place nor time for an argument with Gamzee, he had to think of something…

 

The person on the other side of the desk cleared his throat to bring all the attention back onto the sheet of paper, of course, registration couldn't wait, there was like a dozen others waiting for their turn. Gog, they would have already been done with this bullshit if not dad…

 

What else was there to do other then roll with it? He would deal with Gamz later, for now the clown looked pretty pleased with himself, that bastard. Probably had no idea what he had said, even after all the “do fucking not”.

 

With a sigh, Karkat took out his small sickle, taken here specifically for this purpose as it was the most pitiful weapon a troll could imagine. Of course his father wouldn't let him take anything else for the registration, would never risk his son looking like a threat to the society, they both already had a lot on their plates with that hemobullshit.

 

Just a tiny cut and a few drops of awfully bright red liquid fell on the wooden surface of the desk. Boom. Truth was out.

 

The guy across the table noted this on the papers in front of him without even batting an eye.

 

He was officially a mutant. _So what?_

 

“What mutation?”

 

Okay, that question was completely unexpected. If he wasn't so stressed, he would probably make some kind of a rude remark but now he could only stare at the… teacher? That person was either a teacher or a cop, was similarly done with his job, but no idea which one. Fuck it, the papers guy!

 

Anyway, he noticed that look and it was so visible that he wanted to groan with frustration, it was hilarious, the trolls would probably laugh at that memory later.

 

“What caste. Does your mutation. Fall under.” he explained like to an idiot, slowly saying each word, loud and clearly. Dammit, it's not like Karkat didn't get it the first time, he just had no idea how to say that he's the last limeblood known to-

 

“Motherfucking purple from toes up to the tippy tops of those nubby motherfucking horns!” that shithead next to him just put his hand on the top of the smaller boy’s head and ruffled the hair playfully while still grinning lazily at the papers guy. Oh shit, he didn't just…

 

The sound of pen scratching the paper was so loud it could as well be recorded with a super sensitive microphone and set on high volume on speakers.

 

“Okay, that's it, then. Your ID will be ready in two weeks.”

 

Oh shit, he did. It was done.

 

Karkat was officially a mutant highblood. But a question appeared: was it more of a good thing or a bad one?

 

* * *

 

Okay, now some grey there and there. Grey like ashes left in the fireplace? Nooo, maybe more like the grey of a clouded sky before it rains?

 

There.

 

Now black like-

 

The colors swirling in his brain were suddenly forced to stop, the sound of his phone ringing tore through the music coming from the radio. Thing was loud like hell and still had that annoying default tune.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Shit, Gamz, you still listening to that crappy excuse of a song?! For fuck’s sake, you have no damn taste!”

 

The troll let out a laugh and reached for a half-full bottle of Faygo standing on the drawer next to the easel.

 

“Hey there, Karbro” said with a grin as if his friend was next to him and took a sip of the drink. “Want some?”

 

“What the- No, I don't want your fucking ‘elixir’ or however you call that shit now.” Karkat growled at the phone as usual, as irritated as ever and sighed with frustration. “Look, dumbass, I called you just to ask when are you going to the registration.”

 

Gamzee wasn't in hurry, put down the bottle back to its place and dipped his fingers in a small can with inky black liquid. “Already motherfucking been there, brother”

 

That earned him a few cracks and a loud thump from the phone but he paid it little attention.

 

“Sorry, dad…” was quiet yet audible, that got the troll to listen more closely. No one answered, though. “But what the fuck, when?!” and there was the crab again, sounding surprised and maybe even slightly scared by the information?

 

“Kurloz motherfucking dragged me there like a week ago or some shit. You?” And smeared the paint quickly but carefully, not wanna paint over those tiny nubs… Giving it a second thought, he should've painted the hair before horns. Well, shit, too late.

 

“Dad's not gonna come with me and I have two fucking days left to get that crap done” and a sigh again, he could almost hear the smaller guy trembling.

 

“Ya need some motherfucking help there?” he said casually, taking some yellow onto his pinky finger to fix the places where black got onto horns.

 

“YES. You're coming with me tomorrow, shithead!” almost as if he was waiting for the suggestion.

 

“Sure as hell, Karbro” said and went back to the grey, this time it was the soft grey of skin and that almost cute kind of slightly darker grey with a tint of pink, almost red. It surely was hard to mix the paint to get that perfect blushy shade but he already had some prepared. Gentle strokes, slightly blending the colors, yes.

 

“Then see ya tomorrow at ten there, Gamz, don't you dare be fucking late or I'll end you. I need this ID done as soon as fucking possible.”

 

“Yep, bye, motherfucker” now yellow, but darker yellow, not the sunshine but sunset, the bleak and somewhat dirty shade but forming the perfect picture with the others. Funny, how such awful colors could create a miracle when put together on a canvas.

 

Yep, he would definitely be late.

* * *

 

Out of the office and the crab could finally take a deep breath.

 

“Wasn't that motherfucking bad” and the idiot was still grinning like nothing happened. The hallway was empty.

 

“You giant asshole!” a hiss left the mad Karkat’s mouth as he stood on his toes, trying to look intimidating but failing miserably. “What the fuck have you done?!”

 

“Said you're a purple, motherfucker” yet Gamzee smirked at those adorable attempts and that face growing red with anger. Yep, he definitely knew how to mix the paint correctly.

 

“Exactly, and what the flying fuck am I supposed to say if anyone-” he stopped the yelling just to whisper the last part “finds out it's a giant fucking lie?”

 

“How?”

 

Pat. A hand landed on his head ruffling the short black hair while the tall troll still smiled at him lazily. Okay, Karkat had no idea how to answer that.

 

So he just grumbled to himself while his moirail kept on petting him.

 

“Stop it”

 

“Sure, best friend”

 

And the hand returned to its owner, leaving a sudden feeling of emptiness on his head, as if something significant was lacking. Not a nice feeling at all.

 

“Uhhh” he groaned “Let's go to your place” mumbled, still feeling stressed and tense after the interview and seeing his dad in this condition was out of question. He would be so grounded for snapping at his father and that was certain to happen if he went back home so early.

 

“Wanna grab some motherfucking snacks on the way?”


	2. Diamonding away the worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some moirail treatment for anxiety and a car ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kudos! ^^ They brighten up my mood! :D

Good thing Gamzee had a driving license because OH GOG, his house was so damn far from Karkat’s, like thirty minutes by car or something! All because the Makaras had to live by the lake, thanks to Gamzee’s irresponsible lusus. It hadn't showed up for sweeps now, damn thing was probably dead or simply found a better family, but the troll didn't want to even think about that possibility and insisted not to move to the city. When he wasn't home or doing chores, he was at the beach, relaxing and staring at the surface of the water, waiting for that big, white shape to show up.

 

That's also where they were spending most of their time together. It was quiet, nice, there was no one to interrupt them here. Like their own little shard of the world where no one else could enter.

 

The hive stood firmly on the beach, slightly biting into the water, supported by many wooden pillars. The whole construction was really old, probably just waiting for a good moment to collapse and bury its residents beneath tons of bricks. Kurloz seriously should convince his younger brother to move somewhere else before anything bad happens.

 

But for now the place felt safe and hopefully would stay this way until they have to go to college.

 

They both flopped onto the soft sand in the shadow of the house, not far from the water. Karkat sighed and took out a grub sandwich from the paper bag, one of the few they bought on their way there, Kurloz wasn't skipped. He took a bite just to have something to focus on but his train of thoughts had already left the station.

 

“Dad's gonna kill me” grumbled and locked his eyes on the water as his friend slowly took out his food, no rush.

 

“Stop worrying, motherfucker”

 

“How am i fucking supposed to?! He's gonna find out, if not now then when the fucking ID’s done” the crab growled and threw his sandwich back into the bag, dammit, even if his stomach was empty and rambling, there was no chance he could swallow anything with all the tension. Ughhhh how much he would give to not have to go back home tonight, probably crush on Gamzee’s couch like many times before when he had been tired after school and needed a nap. He would love that even now. Gog, even his head hurt from the stress.

 

While he was thinking about the entire situation and how his dad would react to him lying about his blood, trying to figure out the safest way to get through that hell, Gamzee finished his sandwich and stretched with a smirk.

 

“No need to keep your motherfucking think pan occupied by that shit, Karbro” and because only a frustrated snarl answered him, the tall troll took the matters into his own hands.

 

Karkat let out a startled yelp, feeling that something, or more specifically Gamzee, grabbed him tightly and pulled closer, onto his lap. In the same time he wanted to argue and fight but on the other hand he had no strength for that, all burnt by stress and the sleepless night caused by it.

 

So he just mumbled “Asshole” and didn't complain more, bringing a wide smile onto his moirail’s painted face.

 

Large hands on his head, not just mindlessly ruffling the hair this time, they moved in a specific motion. Making circles with fingers on the temples, slowly moving higher as the small troll sighed and closed his eyes. Gamzee’s messages were nice and soothing, helped his headaches and mostly kept the worries at bay, at least until the message was over.

 

Gamzee made a good use of the knowledge he had and all the lessons from Kurloz, fingers moving flawlessly between all the places he remembered until he finally placed them on top of his friend's head. He waited a second or two before he started making slowly tightening circles around Karkat’s small, nubby horns. At first there was no reaction but then he heard it. A quiet and cut short but still, a _purr_.

 

Karkat immediately covered his face which the tall troll didn't need to see to know that it was growing more red with every second, slowly changing color to that amazing shade of reddish grey. Possibly more from embarrassment than anger and most likely ready to yell at him for that yet too tired to actually do it.

 

“Relax, motherfucker”

 

The clown was patient. In the same time he knew his best friend too well, it came as no surprise when the troll finally uncovered his face and leaned against his moirail a bit more with a surrounding sigh, letting him continue. Just a few seconds later the purring returned, slightly breaking as the crab still tried to suppress it a bit, the adorable sound he made. Gamzee devoured it all, a drug that couldn't hurt him for once and that was also scarcely gifted to him sometimes. Just a purr but also the cutest thing in this world.

 

He noticed when it changed but didn't stop as the troll fell asleep in his arms, with a finally somewhat calm expression on his most usually angry face. And again that adorable blush, the color only Gamzee could mix and paint with.

 

* * *

 

“-ucking sky-lights are falling, Karbro”

 

Just five more mi- WHAT THE FUCK.

 

Karkat immediately opened his eyes and looked around with confusion, Jegus, Gamz, you and your random commentary on the environment would be the end of him.

 

His moirail was lying on the sand, staring at the tiny lights scattered all over the dark sky, they looked like billions of fireflies frozen in time. And there on top of that asshole was a half-awake Karkat with remains of that sweet slumber still clinging to his mind. Oh, how nice it would be just to lie his head down again and disappear from existence once more…

 

But that wouldn't solve his problems.

 

“Holy shit, it's late” he growled and yawned, finally rolling off Gamzee as his tired limbs still denied him cooperation. If his dad wasn't going to kill him for just the registration situation, he definitely would for that sick combo. Fuck, get up already.

 

“Ughhhh.” more groaning “Crap, i need a lift. At least to the nearest fucking bus stop” Dammit, it was so dark and late!

 

“No motherfucking problem, brother” the other troll chuckled and stood up with ease, reached out to help his friend right after that. With more angry rumbling, the cancer finally got up and stretched his stiff body, he would give everything for just a few more hours of that blessed sleep without his dad looming over him… And with Gamz, would be really nice. That guy knew what to do in order to calm that angry crab.

 

They somehow became that diamond after all.

 

“Wait there for a motherfucking second, Karbro, gotta let Kurloz know” and the young Makara left his moirail’s side to enter the house.

 

And the crab waited, murmuring swears and insults directed at the cold weather as well as his dumbass for taking too long. Yet no snarl left him when Gamz finally showed up with the car keys.

 

“All ready, motherfucker” grinned as if his brother passed him some good news.

 

“About fucking time” crabby grumbled and headed to the vehicle while rubbing his shoulders, shit, it was freezing and late, probably after midnight already! Why that shithead hadn't woken him up, no idea. Moron.

 

They FINALLY got into the damn car and Karkat immediately turned the heat on, even if it wouldn't start blowing anything better than just cold breeze for a few more minutes. But his eyes drifted to the clock as he was going to turn on the radio. 2:37AM.

 

“Fuckfuckfuuuuuuck!” he mumbled and bit his forearm, just above the wrist. Bad sign, he tended to do it when he was getting a duo of stress and fear in the face and yes, he could actually hurt himself with that. Crabby didn't have the same long fangs as his moirail but those shark-like teeth shouldn't be underestimated, Gamzee knew it.

 

When they had been younger, they liked to play-fight a lot, mostly with Karbro winning. It wasn't because he would get really mad if he lost, definitely not. Okay, it was it. Anyway, once the battle got too real and the small crab accidentally bit his friend with all his strength. Didn't notice until he felt the taste of that purple, kept beating himself over it even after it healed. Thankfully left no scars but wow, that actually hurt like hell!

 

What only got the clown worried more.

 

“HEY! Eyes and think pan on the road, fucker!”

 

Whoops, he got distracted by the memory. “Sorry, Karbro” smiled like nothing happened and focused on driving.

 

“For fuck’s sake, i have no idea how you got that licence, you forget about the car in a fucking millisecond!” he growled quietly and pressed his cheek against the ice cold glass of the window, staring at the trees as the car went past them. Then he noticed the bus stop but Gamz didn't slow down, just completely ignored it.

 

“You missed the fucking stop, idiot” the cancer grumbled. He would probably hear a ‘oh shit, you're right, motherfucker’ now and they would try to somehow turn around…

 

“I know, motherfucker” Gamzee’s expression didn't change, still had that sleepy grin, oh gog, please don't fall asleep on the wheel.

 

“Huh?” he peeked at the clown. “You're gonna fucking strangle me in the middle of some creepy shitwoods?”

 

“Nah, taking ya home, Karbro”

 

Well, that was to be expected yet still kind of surprised him. Like mentioned before, there was about half an hour by car between their houses, one way.

 

“Ughhhh” too late to fight. ”Thanks, I guess” mumbled and came back to watching the forest outside so couldn't notice how Gamzee’s fists tightened on the wheel and flames if rage started dancing in his fully awake eyes to the rhythm of his hateful thoughts.

 

Damn, he would love to _beat the shit out of his moirail’s motherfucking dad_.

 

* * *

 

He fell asleep, didn't he?

 

“End of the road, Karbro”

 

Yep, he did. Again.

 

Only a mumble left him in response. Yep, it was past 3 am, he was stiff, tired and felt absolutely terrible. The last thing he wanted was to move at all, the first being some magical dust that could teleport him straight to his recuperacoon. In his room. In the attic. Shit.

 

“Fuck my life” growled to himself and opened the door to get out of the vehicle. More swears, the lights of his dad’s room were on.

 

“Wanna motherfucking hang out tomorrow?”

 

“It I miraculously don't get fucking grounded then sure, why the fuck not” grumbled and took a step onto the sidewalk.

 

“Karbro?”

 

“WHAT?!” he snapped at Gamz and turned around just to see the troll untouched by that, his hand put forward with two fingers forming a half of a diamond. Oh, yeah, clingy clown attacks again. The crab huffed with frustration but finished the shape yet didn't look at his friend’s face.

 

“See ya” murmured and headed to the door again. As soon as the knob turned and the short troll stepped inside, Gamzee noticed his buddy shiver. He couldn't hear anything though, it was too far. And the door closed, cutting him from whatever was happening inside.

 

A part of him wanted to rush inside and sell a fist straight in ‘dad’s’ face, than another one and again, ugh, Gamzee honestly hated that guy with his entire heart. Not like a kismesis but in a purely platonic way, without just throwing shallow death wishes in the air but actually hoping that troll or human, whatever he was, to die. It was a moirail’s duty after all, to protect their diamond.

 

And situations like what was probably happening in that house were the reason Gamz thought he was a pretty shitty diamond material.

 

Because he could do absolutely nothing to stop it.

 

With a sigh, he started the engine again and drove away, back home, praying for miracles to do something about Karkat’s dad.

 

* * *

 

Their neighborhood was pretty nice. A bunch of colored hives with lawnrings, mostly two or even three floors high. Yep, trolls definitely liked tall houses, there was nothing to argue about. Karkat’s wasn't that different, not too high, made of brick, with a pointy roof. Basically not drawing attention.

 

One step after another, his feet felt like concrete slabs as he approached the door. As he was reaching for his keys, the knob suddenly turned. Of course his dad was waiting for him.

 

Right after he stepped onto the boards of the floor, that furious hiss hit his ears, immediately causing shivers to run up his spine. Fuck, it was bad.

 

The door slammed shut behind him, making the troll involuntarily put his arm up, ready to bite down. Partially because that would ensure he wouldn't accidentally snap or start arguing as it had happened in the past, that was easier.

 

But a skinny black hand grabbed him by the wrist firmly and pulled it away from the troll’s face.

 

“Now. We need to talk” the low voice grumbled through gritted teeth.

 

Fuck.


	3. Black and candy red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An idiot convention in the city square.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! :)

Some would say it could be worse. And it was true, there could be something really awful happening in that building.

 

But it didn't change the fact that Karkat felt terrible in his room that night.

 

Yes, he was a loud guy who swore and insulted everyone a lot but in the same time he absolutely hated being yelled at. His dad barely ever hit him and it usually happened only when the troll actually snapped at him or said something super nasty, but still could be really intimidating.

 

Tonight their little ‘chat’ focused around getting home late, making sure Karkat wasn't trying any of the “clown stuff” or thinking about Gamzee as some sort of an example, slightly touching the moirail subject. Also about how dangerous it was for him to stay late outside. It was almost like stories for wrigglers that they would get eaten by wild lusii if they tried to run away from their own but coming from his dad’s mouth they were brutal and fully real, believable. That's why Karkat always had a sickle or two with him, simply out of fear.

 

Yes, his dad was really worried about his life, probably considered calling the police a few times that night. Yes, Karkat knew that guy loved him like his own biological son. But he couldn't help being scared and mad at him in the same time, it was one of those weird mixes of emotions where you want to cry, hide and scream in fury, all at once. Instead he went to his room.

 

He wanted to make a remark on the whole “loving” part. Didn't.

 

He wanted to let out at least one snarl or say something like “since when you fucking care”. Only in his head.

 

Oh, how he wanted to yell at his dad for even implying that the cancer should break that diamond.

 

He remained silent.

 

Of course he was grounded, though.

  


Well, their IDs looked better then he predicted them to. It didn't have a “PURPLEBLOOD MUTANT” slapped all over it, only a small grape colored square in the top right corner, right above his photo, with a candy red stripe running horizontally through it.

 

Other than that, it had all the basic info and shit, including a phone number in case something happened to him. Karkat didn't tell his friend but he actually put Gamzee’s number there instead of his dad’s.

 

No, it wasn't that his father worked a lot and wouldn't come. Neither that he didn't trust him, hell, that wasn't even true. It was… complicated, to say at least. He simply preferred his moirail to know it first, if that made any sense.

 

“Hey, Karbro, wanna grab some motherfucking snacks?” purely rhetorical, they were already heading to their favorite sandwich place, one of the very little ones that still served grubs with all the humans shoving their disgust into others’ faces. At least the quality and taste were still skyrocketing.

 

“Of fucking course, shithead” he snarled, earning some unapproving looks from all the people around him, more or less annoyed depending on the species.

 

But Gamzee remained unmoved as usual, damn, sometimes even the crab wondered how that clown managed to keep his cool around him.

 

“School starts soon, motherfucker!” he grinned like it was actually good damn news.

 

“Yes, that hell again. Learning someshit completely useless again, death would be fucking nice” snarled and looked around, yeah, just a few more minutes and they'd be there.

 

“Karkat!”

 

Oh, fuck, no.

 

“Johnbro!” Gamzee didn't notice the grimace on his moirail’s face and waved at the boy who got out of the crowd

 

Sadly, yes.

 

There he was, that idiot with that dumb smile, wearing his usual bright and happy clothes. That sight alone made the cancer want to throw up.

 

“Didn't expect to see you guys there!” wow, another person who could completely ignore Karkat’s mood yet this one was simply too fucking stupid for that. Did that sound black? Well, maybe a bit. “You on a date?” looked at Karkat and then smiled at the tall goofball next to him.

 

“For fuck’s sake, John” the crab groaned, gog, he had such a strong desire to punch that human boy! But instead he just executed a facepalm on his own face. “I'm pretty fucking sure you mean human flushed bullshit so no, moron, different fucking quadrant.”

 

“Just grabbing food, motherfucker” wow, godly patience, Gamzee, you should get a reward for that. The troll casually tilted his head slightly, pointing at the row of bars and shops with food on the same side of the street. It didn't take the teen too long to figure out where they were going.

 

“There again? That place stinks” boy's nose wrinkled as if he could already smell the odor of fried grubs, soon followed by an expression of disgust. Exaggerated a lot, it wasn't THAT bad…

 

“Get a fucking taste, Egbert” the short snarled, defending his favorite place in this shithole. “Those are the best fucking grubs on this crappy planet!”

 

Never insult a troll’s grubplace. Just never. Thankfully, Gamzee was there to- oh, nevermind, he got distracted by a colorful bus or some shit.

 

“Said the one who eats from a trash can” Oh, did they run into a random idiot convention in the middle of the city? They tended to happen here sometimes. The spider troll girl showed up out of nowhere next to John with that smirk.

 

“Are you stupid or just pretending? Cuz it looks like fucking both, they serve the best grubs there, even fucking Terezi can _see_ that!”

 

“Oooh, yeah, the best… what you can get” Vriska hissed. John clearly had no idea what to do, calm his friend or his fresh matesprit because Gamzee didn't seem like doing shit. “I almost forgot that all the good spots were for highbloods only, shame on me. And who runs that garbage dump? Rusts?” she giggled, seeing Karkat almost boiling with rage.

 

“Actually, Karbro’s-”

 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, GAMZEE!”

 

That could be a bit too much and crabby knew it. Sure as hell he noticed that flicker of ears and a tint of hurt in his friend’s sleepy eyes as he carefully backed out of the conversation.

 

“Ughhh” another facepalm, this time for his own dumb self. “Sorry, Gamz” grumbled. Answer was just a nod.

 

“All ok, motherfucker.”

 

“Okay, guys, let’s just drop it, I'm star-” Egbert tried to say something.

 

“What was that you wanted to say, Gamz?” of course Vriska wouldn't let this slip, now there she was, staring at the painted troll.

 

This time he actually looked at his moirail for approval before saying anything what Karkat surely appreciated yet it was for nothing now. They would find out one way or another after all. A sigh and a nod for the clown.

 

“Karbro’s motherfucking purple, friend”

 

Boom. Taken aback Vriska was a rare sight, what a waste he didn't have a camera with him. But she managed to recover pretty quickly and laughed at that.

 

“No way. Your ears are too small. And you are red from anger even now, dummy” now John was actually trying to shoosh her, that girl looked like on fire.

 

Welp, the truth was out. Karkat’s moirail took his hand and squeezed him reassuringly, what, of course, didn't go unnoticed but unmentioned.

 

Deep breath. “Mutant” mumbled, feeling worse with every letter, his hunger gone, replaced with a wish to get out of here as soon as possible. Stories of how mutants were treated by other castes still haunted him in his dreams, mostly thanks to his father.

 

At first, Vriska didn't know what to say. There was no reason for them to lie over something like that.

 

“You got a proof?” choked out but her voice wasn't that confident anymore. She met with the damn ID held in the air right in front of her face, Karkat’s hand slightly shaking at this point. Then he shoved it back into his pocket.

 

“Fucking happy now?” he snarled and quickly walked away from the group, breaking the handhold. Wow, they knew how to ruin his mood, school definitely would be great. And no, he didn't cry, he wasn't a wriggler anymore, dammit. He was simply mad at them.

 

“Karkat!” John finally said something. “We're sorry!” he probably still knew shit about castes but at least could tell when someone was upset. Sounded and looked genuine, even Vriska regretting her words. Both received a raised hand in response with all but one fingers curled into a fist, specifically the middle one.

 

Gamzee caught up with him, waving to the pair goodbye.

 

“Let's get those motherfucking grubs” smirked and put a hand on Karkat’s head, gently ruffling the hair.

 

Sigh.

 

They went to their usual place anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All should get a bit more interesting soon~ c:


	4. Explaining the rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation gone wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chap!  
> Enjoy~! ^^

Of course he fucking noticed.

 

It was still warm and early, sun high in the sky, generously giving away all its rays and shine to whoever was outside while it still could. It was that temperature, not too hot, just pleasantly warm.

 

Yet Karkat was wearing a thick sweater, his usual black one with a grey cancer sign on his chest. Not even mentioning the color, the sleeves and fabric covering the neck were made for a completely different kind of weather but it was normal for this troll. He always wore that even in the most harsh sunlight and complained about the heat all day.

 

Despite that, Gamzee couldn't help that feeling in the gut that something wasn't quite right.

 

After finishing their grilled sandwiches with extra grub sauce, they both lied down on the sand, full and warm inside after the hearty meal. It didn't take long before Karkat’s breath normalized while his expression remained somewhere between calmness and anger. Really quiet but still slightly hearable snoring followed.

 

A minute, two, five… After waiting a bit, Gamzee slowly sat up, just to scoop the crabby and pull that sleeping beauty onto his lap. That wasn't the most comfortable position, Karkat wasn't a feather either but the clown found the closeness soothing, it was enough for his own thoughts to slow down. This time no purring but it didn't matter.

 

The troll gently grabbed his friend’s hand and slowly rolled up the sleeve, revealing the pale skin on his forearm. The bitemarks were small but still visible, thankfully a day or two old. Oh, yeah, they both had accidentally broken the curfew again the day prior but this time Karkat’s dad was at work for the night, crabby found his note on the fridge after getting back.

 

Gamzee frowned as he stared at the marks, at least they weren't deeper than scratches. Could be worse yet that didn't change the fact that this troll was enough punishment for himself. The clown couldn't help but start rubbing the light grey skin, he was also getting a feeling that he should lick the wound but there was no use for that, the marks were already almost fully healed. So he hugged the slumbering troll as if that could help them disappear faster.

 

Mumble mumble.

 

“What the fuck…” the crab murmured and shifted slightly, feeling the change of the ground as well as arms wrapped around him. Then he saw his revealed forearm, of course Gamzee would notice. The clown had some kind of a weird moirail instinct that was fairly common among lower castes. He sighed, getting the thought about fighting out of his mind, it wouldn't do any good now, and let Gamzee hug him like a hugeass teddy bear.

 

“Worried, motherfucker” The voice was barely hearable but still clear. Answer was a loud groan from the cancer.

 

“You giant fucking wriggler” mumbled, feeling the embrace tighten and raised one of his hands to gently pap the tall guy on the cheek. “Shoosh, idiot” and kept on papping until his friend finally loosened the grip. “I'm fine, dumbass. No awful shit happening” and even after that, he kept on calming that childish fucker. “You huge baby.”

 

“What’s a motherfucking baby” the capricorn rumbled quietly in response.

 

“Human biology lessons from the last semester, asshole” growled. ”I have no fucking idea how you keep on passing if you never ever fucking cheat.”

 

“Miracles, brother”

 

There was nothing he could say to continue the conversation so they both went silent and just stared at the sky, the sun slowly getting closer to the horizon.

 

Swearing lightly the crab took out his flip phone and opened it with one swift move of a wrist. Not that late yet, thankfully.

 

“I should get going” murmured and got off his friend, trying to ignore that sad look. “We still have the trollian, dumbass.” added half-heartedly but it didn't do much.

 

“Hey, Karbro?”

 

“What now?” he picked up that annoyed tone again and looked at the clown who sat up on the sand.

 

“Maybe I'll come for a motherfucking sleepover to your hive, best friend?” the clown suggested, gluing those half closed eyes to his moirail’s face.

 

Their sleepovers were really scarce and only involved Karkat sleeping in that house by the lake but never the other way. His dad always objected that, never wanted to show his appearance to any of the trolls. How was he even going to work without being noticed?

 

All the begging in the past was in vain, his father never agreed.

 

“He won't let you, fuckass” the crab grumbled and flopped back softly on the ground next to his buddy with a sigh.

 

“It never hurts to motherfucking try” said Gamz with that dumb grin again.

 

It was probably for nothing.

 

But Karkat stood up and started dialing the number on the phone, taking a few steps away from the other troll, slowly growing anxious over that chat as well as trying to plan some sort of a way to convince his father.

 

In the same time Ganzee started at his back, hearing only the sound of waves but trying to catch all sounds coming from the cancer, even his breath.

 

Then he finally let out something louder.

 

“Hey, dad… No, nothing, All’s good.” Inhaled deeply. “Only Gamz. I just wanted to- No, dad, we were already getting our shit.”

 

The clown didn't let his eyes off the crab for even a split of a second, watching those tiny changes indicating what his father was saying.

 

“If you let me say it, would be f- nice” bit his tongue just in time. Swearing at his dad would never convince him. “Wanted to ask if Gamzee could come over for the night.”

 

A longer break this time, caused Gamzee to hold his breath in suspension, maybe also not to drown out anything important. Shit, he even had no idea if they both were silent or his dad was giving him a lecture, he couldn't hear anything coming from the phone.

 

“I know, I know, dad…” Finally the troll said something. “But he's my- my moirail, I wanted you two to finally f- meet.” This kind of tone and swears choked back in the last second were completely new to come out of Karkat’s mouth, at least for Gamz. Silence once more, crabby started walking around in circles, took another deep breath. “Just tonight. Yes, he'll behave.” Oh? “No f- no problem, yes. Yep, I promise.” An almost suppressed groan. “Okay, I'll do my best.” And let out the air loudly with relief. “Thanks, dad. A hecking lot. See ya” Once more.

 

“Okay, you can come, asshole. But dad set some conditions.” No matter how much he tried not to show it, a smirk was still present on that always angry face. Gamzee grinned widely and stood up.

 

“Firstly, no ‘motherfucking’. One fucking swear from you next to my dad and we're screwed, got it?”

 

The clown nodded, they both started heading to the door to grab whatever Gamzee could need and inform Kurloz who would almost surely have nothing against it.

 

The older Makara had once even signed Karkat that his brother had a habit of disappearing for night every few days or something so he wasn't worried too much. Especially that Gamz was a freaking purple, what bad could happen to someone like him?

 

Just a few minutes ago and they were ready to go, sitting in the car with a bag of necessary stuff on the back seat.

 

“Back to the fucking conditions.” Somehow Karkat wasn't as annoyed or angry as usual, maybe even excited? “No drugs, that includes your shitty slime pies. You copy or got some in your hear ducts?” peeked at the clown. That guy also looked slightly more lively than normally, that sleepover idea was sudden and rather unexpected to be approved. They both had a sensation of some sort of a special occasion happening, as if they remembered a sweeply festival or a wriggling day.

 

“Listening to your motherfucking voice like to one of the messiahs, all motherfucking clear. No pies on me.” not even a possible confrontation with Karkat's mysterious dad could wipe that smile off his painted face, all he focused on was that they finally convinced that guy!

 

“Last one's so fucking simple even your damaged think pan should understand: you stick to me, shithead, no wandering around the hive like a fucking lunatic. I'm responsible for you there, asshole, don't get me in trouble.”

 

“Sure as hell, Karbro” that was completely out of his to do list, he'd done enough in the past. Keeping the crab away from home at night, trying to get him to eat sopor slime, convincing him to ditch school a few times… the list was colorful and went on but today Gamzee decided to be as much of a perfect moirail example as it was doable.

 

The ride went surprisingly fast with the cancer repeating the conditions like a scratched record, making sure his clown got them all flawlessly drilled into his think pan without even a tiny bit of space for any dumb ideas. Later they found a parking lot to leave the car in and walked the rest of the way.

 

The sun was slowly setting, spilling its blood all over the sky turning it into liquid gold and caramel. Maybe this sight was worthy enough to be immortalized on one of Gamzee’s canvases but for now he had some better ideas for paintings, not just another dying daylight. Besides, everyone had already made that, what was the point of redoing the same thing over and over again?

 

Then Karkat’s hive came into sight. Didn't look as free and comfortable as the Makaras’ home, mostly because it was surrounded by many others but looked pretty nice nonetheless, just not something Gamzee was used to living in. Probably mainly because of the lack of a lake behind it.

 

As he kept on looking around, they finally went through the wooden gate, the same that marked the border of the land forbidden for the clown. It surely felt weird to just normally leave it closed behind like just a usual gate, one of many. In both physical and metamorphical way.

 

They approached the small stairs, the same ones Gamzee usually watched his friend climb right before disappearing inside. And there was the door that opened itself out of nowhere, that second of hesitation in Karkat’s moves but then the troll finally led his moirail into the hive.

 

There were some expectations of course but the inside of the house felt much different from any of them. Wooden floor covered by a long, dark red carpet in the narrow hallway, walls painted calm green. On the left was a kitchen, a small cozy and clean place with standard equipment like fridge, oven and all, also some dirty plates in the sink, most likely after a lonely dinner. On their right there was a double door leading to another unknown place, maybe a living room? That was the safest bet. Past the kitchen there was another door leading somewhere while in the end of the hallway there was a staircase to the next floor.

 

But for now let's focus on the one who finally showed up in front of the pair. Gamzee was prepared to see a troll, a human, even a magical talking lusus.

 

The ‘dad’ was a skinny humanoid figure with inky black skin, his limbs looked almost like sticks growing out of the body while the eyes were pure white. One of them had a long scar going through it, from the lips to the forehead. He was wearing a dark grey shirt and trousers, was it jeans? It was hard to actually tell what were his clothes made of. The figure wasn't as tall as Gamz but close. Wow, imagine a tiny Karkat wriggler seeing his ‘father’ for the first time. The clown could feel something dreadful in this aura, something not even the nicest deeds could fix.

 

This guy had a lot of blood on his hands, shouldn't be underestimated at any cost.

 

Silence was finally broken by the crab clearing his throat.

 

“Dad - Gamzee, my moirail. Gamz - dad” he introduced them quickly, surely also feeling the change in the air, purpleblood aura meeting the one of pure shadow.

 

“Spades Slick” the darkness itself spoke and put a hand forward, staring at the tall troll suspiciously.

 

“Gamzee Makara” accepting the handshake introduced himself properly.

 

Karkat made a slightly awkward move, risking his arm a bit and then lowering it again. They both immediately noticed, as well as the fact that the other did as well. But right after that focused on themselves again.

 

“I hope that Karkat introduced you to the rules we have in this household” said, still not getting any friendlier towards the troll, maybe only even more uncomfortable.

 

“Sure as hell he did” the clown grinned and put one hand on his moirail’s shoulder, earning a confused look from the cancer.

 

Maybe a bit too fast but at least the sign was clear, Slick could immediately notice how possessive was the Makara over his diamond. Only the time could tell the exact intentions though.

 

“No coming near my office” the dad added after a little break and turned around, returning to the supposed living room. That was it, or at least seemed to be for now.

 

* * *

 

After showing his friend where the bathroom was and leaving him there, Karkat went up a ladder to the attic, his very own part of the house. The place wasn't nearly as huge as Gamzee’s bedroom but it was nice and cozy and that's what mattered. His purple recuperacoon was situated in the corner, next to a small balcony with a view of the lawnring and a clear sight of a big crab-like lusus sleeping among the bushes. It would probably be scientifically proven that trolls felt safer with their guardians close if anyone cared enough to do research on it.

 

On the other side of the room, still close to the balcony, stood his desk with a closed husktop on it as well as a few random things next to it, one of them being a sickle sharpening set. He quickly shoved that into one of the drawers.

 

Closer to the entrance was a wardrobe and a chest for other stuff necessary for a troll, some of them still from the times when he was a tiny grub. If you think about it, you could tell that Spades raised his son a bit similarly to how you raise a pet, on a leash and limited.

 

Right after opening the larger chest, the crab took out two recuperarolls. It wasn't necessary but somehow he didn't want to sleep in his own cocoon this time.

 

He positioned them by a wall not covered by furniture but in posters, most of them being romantic comedies of course. The superior genre, everyone thinking otherwise could go fuck themselves.

 

Filling the portable beds took only a few minutes, Gamzee entered the room to the the sight of them ready and his moirail sitting impatiently on one of them. The cancer grabbed his clothes and went passed him downstairs to clean himself, leaving the clown unsupervised.

 

A bit more about that tall guy now. His hair were even a bigger mess than usually, would look like a disaster in the morning but for some reason the makeup wasn't even slightly damaged. His usual t-shirt gone, trousers remained on their place or maybe it was just an identical pair, who knew. Gamzee put his bag aside and approached the balcony, it reminded him so much of that giant window in his own respiteblock.

 

When the crab came back, in his black pajama set with short sleeves, first thing he noticed was his think-pandead moirail sitting on the balustrade casually, a lit cigarette in one hand, eyes on the lusus.

 

“Get the fuck back inside, shithead! And put something on, you shameless asshole!” growled Karkat and sat down on his recuperaroll. In the same time the clown didn't seem to mind his grubscars being uncovered as most trolls but it was Gamz. “And no fucking smoking, moron” He just grinned and put off the cigarette before returning to the hive and retrieving a fresh t-shirt from the bag.

 

“Sure, Karbro” smiled and finally not showing any inappropriate parts, laid down on his roll, his eyes stuck on the cancer who followed his steps.

 

“I know it's still early as shit but I'm fucking tired” mumbled and made himself comfortable on the portable cocoon. “Goodnight, Gamz”

 

“Goodnight, motherfucker”

 

And eyes closed. Despite the terribly early hour he was exhausted, mostly mentally, the sopor slime was also working, successfully putting him to sleep…

 

Until someone slowly grabbed his wrist. Fucking hell, what now?!

 

Sleepy crabby turned his head with a groan and opened his eyes, eyelids heavy like bricks glued together. The plan was to scold the idiot next to him but even before he saw him, he felt it, pleasant warmth on his skin and a feeling of wetness left behind it that caused him to shiver involuntarily as well as sudden warmth to appear on his face. Yep, Gamzee was having another attack of clinginess, this guy.

 

The clown was holding crab’s arm and running his dark gray tongue over the almost invisible bite marks with eyes barely open.

 

“Jegus, I'm fucking okay, dumbass” Karkat groaned and tried to get his limb back but in vein. Damn, his moirail could be stubborn sometimes, it would be better to just wait through, trying not to show that cancer-red face. The act would definitely be nice and appreciated if he was actually injured, not perfectly fine!

 

After a minute or so Gamz finally let go and yawned as if the situation never happened. But the purple drool on crabby’s forearm was enough of a proof that it indeed took place, not even mentioning the disgusted expression on his tomato-colored face.

 

“Gross…!” growled and started wiping it with the fabric of his t-shirt, quietly hoping dad wouldn't come to check how they were doing, that would be embarrassing. “Sleep, shithead…!”

 

“Night, Karbro” mumbled Gamzee, his voice sleepy as if he had just been woken up from a nap.

 

* * *

 

Rustling was quiet yet hearable, someone was with them in the block. It could be just Karkat sneaking out to the bathroom if not the fact that the stranger was slacking off and finally slightly, but not gently, kicked one of Gamzee's legs, fully ensuring him.

 

Lifting one eyelid a bit, just a little not to give away that he was awake, the clown noticed Slick slowly descending to the lower floor but what got his attention was that the skinny darkness was looking at him with an angry grimace painted on his face.

 

But before making any more moves just yet, the clown listened. In the silence of the night or even almost dawn, the loudest sound in the room was definitely Karkat’s breathing, easy to focus on. Steady, normal, the crab was still deep in slumber, unbothered by his dad nor moirail who slowly got up from the roll, silently shaking off the drops of sopor slime that clung to his skin and clothes. Licked up the ones that somehow got onto his face and soundlessly headed to the ladder with a smirk on his painted face.

 

Honk.

 

It almost looked like a dare, Slick waited for the clown to notice where he stood before walking into his office, door left unclosed, an invitation not to be rejected. Gulping the bait, Gamzee carefully got closer and without further postponing entered the forbidden room.

 

Filled bookshelves covered the walls of that small block, only one left free revealing the orange paint and the only window in the room. Dark red carpet was lying on the floor, similar to the one downstairs in the hallway. In the middle stood a perfectly polished desk of dark wood and in front of it stood Slick, his smile completely out of place.

 

“Now” began “mister Makara, I think we need to ta-”

 

Yet his incoming speech was swiftly cut short by Gamzee appearing right in front of him and grabbing the black one by a collar of his shirt. The mysterious smile remained even when he was lifted up in the air by the furious troll.

 

“Yes, we gotta motherfucking talk” a low growl left the juggalo’s throat. “If I hear ‘bout you hurting _my_ Karbro, I'll paint those walls with your motherfucking guts” bared his giant teeth in an almost animalistic manner, both their auras going crazy, fighting for dominance but there was something strange in a way Slick still smiled, no one would grin so calmly while being on the mercy of a mad highblood.

 

“I see we understand each other perfectly then. What means that our talk is **fucking** over.” Spades spit the last words through gritted teeth.

 

 **_Click_ **.

 

In a split of a second Gamzee realized two pretty important and worth noting things. Number one: his aura failed miserably the moment he heard that horrendous sound and shrunk in shock. Number two:

 

Slick was  _motherfucking_ armed.

 

* * *

 

 

The noise immediately sent Karkat into a sitting position, his body trembling from shock as his mind was trying to gather its pieces from the deep state of confusion mixed with pure fear.

 

A gunshot?!


	5. Hearing news and opening wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting some old friends. Also some hearts are broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i literally have 78 pages of this fic written  
> hope you enjoy the reading as much as i love writing it! <3

“Our priorities are similar. Let’s don't interrupt each other.”

 

“DAD, WHAT THE FUCK?!”

 

For just a quick moment Karkat stood in the doorway with eyes and mouth wide open, staring at the sight before him while his think pan was trying to process it.

 

Slick was standing by his desk with a gun in his thin hand but finger far from the trigger, no threat incoming. In front of him, on the floor was Gamzee, crouching and gripping his left arm tightly as a deep purple color was seeping through his fingers and dripping on the floor. Some small splatters were on the door and ground, bullet on the carpet.

 

But before the crab got a chance to recover from shock and run to his moirail, the furious clown jumped to the living shadow with a terrifying snarl that died down in his throat as soon as the cold metal hit his jaw from below, forcing him to face up instead. His entire body froze, eyes looked down with pure hatred burning in them like flames straight from hell as the gun was still pointed upwards, holding him from doing _anything_.

 

“Holy shit, DAD!” The cancer finally jolted awake and ran to them, almost immediately putting himself between the fighting ones. Such a contrast, those purely mad, blazing red eyes belonging to Gamzee compared to the bright yellows of Karkat’s in which was nothing but fear and shock.

 

You could almost hear his rushing heart which the taller troll actually did notice. However, Slick wasn't in hurry, his expression completely unreadable this time while those white eyes devoured the sight of a purpleblood on **his** mercy.

 

“No smoking in this house” finally said and retrieved the weapon. “As long as you follow the rules, you're welcome here.” added right before hiding it and heading to the door. The trolls just stared as he walked past them before disappearing in the hallway.

 

“Fuck, holy shitballs, Gamzee” Karkat huffed, eyes glued to the clown whose body was still shaking with anger. “Fucking hell, it's not grub sauce” the sight of the blood alone made his stomach turn and twist but at this moment the condition of his moirail was much more important than that detail. “Listen to me, Gamzee, dammit”

 

Yelling would get him nowhere. Sigh and a quick papping on the chest. “Now, buddy, we gotta stitch you the fuck up” mumbled and pulled him towards the door. “Come on, Gamz” gritted his teeth and basically dragged his half conscious friend all the way to the bathroom.

 

“Fuck, it's bad.” Inhaled sharply as liquid color was dripping down the arm on the perfectly clean tiles. He reached for a first aid kit but stopped right after getting a hold on it. A low growl was still coming from the injured troll, eyes retaining that crazy red color.

 

Immediately after covering the wound in hurry, he started shooshing his enraged moirail, hoping it would work soon, for said moirail’s own good. “Shhhhhh, easy, easy there, Gamz” patted the chest again and wrapped his arms around the angry guy, slowly swaying back and forth with him not stopping the soft sounds from coming. In the same time he tried to ignore the wetness seeping through his own clothes onto his skin. Fuck.

 

“Shhh, shhh… There, there” a pap on the cheek. The growling finally stopped, Gamzee was looking much calmer but still not even close to his usual sleepy grin. There was some purple on his lips too, probably bit his tongue when the gun hit him.

 

“Motherfucker” mumbled as Karkat finally let go and started tending to the wound. The bullet had missed the bone and all important veins but left a pretty big injury behind, right above the elbow, fuck, they should go to the hospital with that. The crab kept on frowning and mumbling swears while cleaning the arm from blood before he covered it with many layers of bandage. At some point he was working with just one arm free, his teeth bit into the forearm because of all the stress and nerves.

 

“Stop it, Karbro” the clown finally spoke and reached for his wrist. Grabbed it gently and pulled away from the sharp teeth. Received just a resigned sigh in response.

 

“Whatever” rumbled the crabby and finished the bandage. Dark blood was still visible on it but that was all he could do for now.

 

“What the fuck happened there?” finally asked and looked at his friend's face covered in ruined makeup.

 

“Nothing, brother, just having a motherfucking talk” slowly a usual grin appeared. “All good now, Karbro” added and patted his moirail’s back to calm him what barely worked.

 

“Gamz, you asshole…!” he gritted his sharky teeth “You can't just attack my fucking dad, get fucking shot and expect me to **fucking** drop it!” snarled right into his face.

 

The highblood raised his unharmed arm and landed a pat on top of that head, ruffling the messy black hair. His own was a complete chaos but who cared. “Miracles happen, brother. Me and your dad are motherfucking cool now.” like it was that simple. But for now all of the hatred was put aside for the tiny, shaking crab with mixed feelings in front of him.

 

“...I fucking hate you” grumbled the cancer after failing to find any other words to respond. The petting continued for a while without interruptions until the clown finally put his hand down and grinned widely.

 

“Now I could use some motherfucking healing…”

 

“Gross!”

 

* * *

 

At least Slick didn't stay to eat breakfast with them but left to work right away. That would've been a really awkward moment. The troll boys found a packet of frozen grubs in the depths of the fridge and cooked them with some leftover soup.

 

After an intense night, a morning that normal was really pleasant, just a bowl of warm and squishy food with something completely ridiculously stupid on the television. How Karkat summoned a TV out of a kitchen cabinet will always remain a mystery… Or it had simply been there all the time, yay, secret revealed.

 

The crab was still overthinking the entire situation from just a few hours prior, stabbing a poor dead grub with a fork.

 

“Humans are motherfucking idiots” wait what?

 

He tore those yellow eyes from his lukewarm soup just to notice his moirail lazily staring at the small screen. It was a news hour, they would probably switch that to something else but human problems could be funny. This time all the talking was done by an elegant woman with a pale, almost white skin, a dumb looking giant straw hat covered her head as well as protected her face from the sun. What was all the fuss about?

 

“Holy shit, humans are fucking drama machines.” He stuffed a half of a bug into his mouth, staring at the lady who looked offended, to say at least. “Are they still trying to do shit about how we're raised?”

 

“Sure as hell they do, motherfucker” the clown responded, sipping the rest of the soup straight from the bowl.

 

“ _This is simply cruel, those are living, feeling beings! Would you just abandon a toddler in the woods and expect it to manage? Then let's don't force it upon those babies and do something about the terrible and completely inhumane ways they are raised”_ She kept on rambling while showing a young indigoblood grub she was holding, almost shaking it in front of a camera. Something roared in the background.

 

“Just fucking wait for it. Three…” The crab smirked and started the countdown.

 

“Two…”

 

“One…!”

 

Nothing happened, the woman was still an uneducated moron, the only difference was that the grub was now crying. Perfect, just another thing to use in her completely pointless speech about how troll tradition is awful and should be changed.

 

The leaves behind them rustled and a giant hoofbeast jumped out of the bushes, straight at the lady to get back that poor grub. Aaaand the transmission broke.

 

“Thinkpan-less bitch” Karkat got up to put the dishes in the sink. Ugh, he should wash them… Eh, fuck it, he would do it later, in the evening or something.

 

“Hey, best friend, just motherfucking remembered that I'm out of paint. Wanna go and get a few motherfucking cans?” that dumbass put down his empty bowl and grinned, earning a snort from his moirail.

 

“Sure, shithead, but first we gotta check that fucking wound. Or we get you to a fucking human hospital to actually stitch you up.” he grumbled with annoyance and went to the bathroom on this floor to grab the first aid kit. No wonder they had so many if his dad greeted every newcomer with a damn bullet!

 

Thankfully, the capricorn stumbled after him and sat down on the floor.

 

“Idiot”

 

Karkat crouched next to him and started taking off the worn out bandage, revealing the terrifyingly big injury. Wow, thank gog trolls weren't as sensitive as humans or the clown would actually be in a life-threatening situation. “Don't move, fuckass.” The cancer started cleaning it, expecting to get at least a wince of shiver but his friend didn't even bat an eye. Something was ringing in his mind, an instinct trying to push him but the troll suppressed it, he wasn't Gamzee to suddenly have eager-to-give-affection moments, that idea was gross and completely pointless anyway. But in the same time, it was something moirails did, caring about each other. His wounded companion closed his eyes, probably lost in thoughts, not that there were too many of course. A quiet groan and the crab sat down next to that moron, holding his arm while preparing to clean the wound himself, like the clown did before…

 

…Then had a moment of freeze, a pretty quick brain lag after which he finished bandaging and got up.

 

“Okay, let's get you that shitty paint”

 

* * *

 

Oh, there was a new grubplace opening?

 

Apparently yes, there was, supposedly named “Grab a Grub”, the whole thing would be ran by a family of blues that had moved into the city from Prospit. Sounded like something really fancy, highblood shit. Very likely that only teals and up would be allowed, what a shame. There was a possibility he could get someone to check that bar out, most likely Vriska or Gamz, the first one because she had money and the second for how he had money AND was quite easy to convince. Sometimes.

 

What tore the troll out of his thoughts were loud swears that could only mean one guy. Karkat. And where was the noisy, angry crab, there was his always high moirail.

 

“Fuck, are you even listening to me?!” the snarls were clear even if they hadn't even left the crowd yet!

 

There were the boys. The cancer furious as always, definitely being an example why some racist humans thought trolls were animals, and the capricorn, casually smoking while acknowledging all the swears with nods. One of his arms was bandaged, though? Hopefully they hadn't had a fight, it would be sad to see such a flourishing moirallegiance fall apart as if it wasn't built on trust but out of cards.

 

Kinda like his own matespritship did prematurely.

 

He waved to get their attention with his only free hand, the other one still holding a full and heavy bag. Yup, he had a hella lot of work to do today.

 

“Hey there, asshead” a snarl came out of Karkat who put aside his argument with his purple as soon as they approached their friend. “How was your fucking vacation, hopefully as shitty as it could fucking be” Yep, the crabby was definitely as salty as if he'd just emerged from the Dead Sea.

 

“Hey, motherfucker”

 

“Pretty cool, acthually” received a pretty unexpected smile from the gemini in response. “Hella lot of work, tho.” definitely weirdly happy?

 

“What’s that stupid grin for?” of course his short friend would be suspicious, it was Karkat.

 

“Family’th bigger” showed them all the stuff he’d bought right before stopping to read the sign about that new restaurant. “Another luthuth and my own grub to take care of.”

 

Wait. What?

 

“Sollux, is this a fucking joke?” of course that ball of anger was mad while Gamzee let out a small cloud of smoke and grinned, baring all of his razor-sharp teeth.

 

“Congrats, brother”

 

“Ugh. Thankth… Makara” not as happy, responding to the giant, looked at him awkwardly. “Anywayth, dad’th not home so gotta go” Yep, perfect guardian material here, leaving a wriggler alone and hoping their lusus wasn't taking a nap.

 

“Hmpf. By the way, you still gotta send me that shitty code you wrote a month ago”

 

“Oooh, that one… I thcratched it” Sollux shrugged, getting a giant facepalm from his friend. “Lotht motivathion.”

 

“I fucking can't with you, asshole. Hopefully someone saves that poor grub from you before you get fucking bored of it if it's not fucking dead already.” Karkat in all his beauty and grace.

 

“Thee ya two at school in a few dayth. Oh, and check out the new grubplathe when it’th open, thankth” he quickly added and ran quickly towards the nearest bus stop where a large one had just appeared, followed by Gamzee’s waving.

 

Right after that they both, or more like Karkat, continued the quarrel about clown’s wound until they entered that one small and cramped shop with all the goods artists could imagine. Of course there were other ones, probably even better stocked but the tall troll stuck to this.

 

“I fucking swear to gog, if we meet anyone else from school, I'll fuc-”

 

“You'll do what, Karkat?”

 

Of course. The closer to the end of summer break, the more old friends were appearing, returning from vacation and getting the necessary school equipment. Kanaya wasn't an exception, standing in the sewing section of the shop. Brightly colorful rolls of fabric were a weird sight in arms of a troll but not her. That girl was weird with her pale skin and love for horrors but in the same time being all for sparkles and glitter.

 

“Ughhhh, hi, Kan” The smaller troll groaned while his companion’s expression suddenly changed as he noticed the jadeblood. She didn't look pleased with the clown’s presence either.

 

“Greetings, Gamzee” said half-heartedly and looked straight into those fully awake yellow eyes.

 

“Oh for fuck’s sake, not this shit again. Gamz, go get your fucking paint.” Karkat snarled. It was clear those two had something ink-colored going between them and the crab was trying his best to be their auspistice, even with some success.

 

The giant purple mumbled something and went past the girl, ‘accidentally’ pushing her, causing all the rolls to fall on the floor.

 

“Watch your steps, Makara!” she said after him but without getting an answer. Karkat facepalmed hardly once more.

 

“That fucking idiot” and helped her pick up her fabrics from the ground. Thankfully they weren't dirty. “Sorry for that dumbass.”  grumbled. That day was bad even before it started and somehow it succeeded in getting progressively worse, he would probably hatemarry it if he could. Only another meeting with John and Vriska could be the black cherry on that rotten wedding cake though.

 

“I have this under control, thank you” she said and fixed all the rolls in her arms. “Didn't expect to see you in this place, Karkat, how are your summer vacation proceeding?” how she could calm down so quickly after meeting her potential kismesis, no one knew.

 

“Don't you fucking remind me, it's terrible, the shit got down, broke through the fucking bottom and still. Fucking. Diving.” finally he could kind of vent at someone who wasn't high on slime, actually listened and probably wouldn't lecture him afterwards. “I keep messing up the fucking curfew hours, that moron’s been acting even weirder than usual, all clingy and everything, then he got fucking shot-” he broke, seeing that curiosity in her eyes and those pricked ears, definitely demanding some tasty explanation. But saying even a word about his dad wasn't in his plans. “Doesn't fucking matter, clownass keeps on saying that he's fine and shit, the fucking wound looks okay, not bleeding or anything. To be fucking added, cuz there gotta be more crap, I'm getting fucking worried.”

 

“Why so?” she asked just to be polite and show her interest in the topic.

 

“He was supposed to have a fucking matesprit by now but his damn think pan is probably so dead he doesn't even fucking remember.” ended with a sigh, oh, how he needed someone to drop all of his problems on, even if for just a second.

 

“As much as I quite dislike that particular Makara” she ignored a quiet ‘hate’ coming out of Karkat at that moment. “I'm certain he doesn't intend to cause you concern. Regarding the red part of this conversation, I suggest simply asking about it. That's all I can do to help, apologize since it's not a lot.” She ended and looked to the right, noticing some colorful ribbons on one of the shelves. It would be a bit of an issue to reach them with the fabric in her arms and Karkat noticed that. He quickly grabbed the small rolls and passed her.

 

“Better than fucking nothing. Thanks, Kanaya” he mumbled genuinely for once and noticed his stupid moirail with three or four cans of paint in his arms, slowly getting closer. “I don't wanna hear any more of that black bullshit so we'll go now, have fun with your eyesore sparkly shit” said quickly and went past her to approach that giant idiot before these two start fighting.

 

“Goodbye, Karkat, we'll see each other at school.”

 

And he basically dragged that purple ass to the cash desk just to get out faster and avoid the second meeting of those two crows. He had no energy to listen to their cawing now.

 

“Let's get some fucking grubs, I'm exhausted and starving.”

 

* * *

 

It was their schooltime routine, the ‘take sandwiches and do homework at Gamzee’s place’ so it was probably normal for it to come back as the days of torture were inevitably getting closer.

 

Right after finishing their grilled grubs with double cheese, both trolls lied down on the sand, enjoying the last rays of summer and aftermeal laziness. The crab was falling asleep again while Gamzee started into nothingness, lost in his own tangled thoughts rushing in that damaged think pan.

 

“Hey, Karbro?”

 

“Hmmm?” his moirail mumbled, not even opening his eyes.

 

“Let's get a motherfucking grub” The purple stared at the clouds with those sleepy eyes as if they formed into shapes or windows to other realities.

 

“You've just fucking eaten, Gamz” grumbling, his friend yawned and shifted a bit to take a more comfortable position while still lying on his back.

 

“Not a snack, brother. Like a living grub.”

 

Okay, that got Karkat to lift his eyelid and look on the left at his buddy. “The thing with Sollux hit you or what the fuck?”

 

“I don't motherfucking know…” without even looking at him, the purple responded like he was questioning his own thoughts, his eyes still locked on those white puffs of water in the sky.

 

“Okay” he let out a long sigh before actually starting “Only fucking matesprits take grubs as pairs and if you didn't fucking notice, you're not responsible enough to take care of a dead turtle, let alone a fucking wriggler. So no, we're not gonna run around the woods like morons, looking for grubs.” grumbled the lecture and noticed his friend sit up, now staring at the water as if it held solutions and answers to all questions and bothers of the universe. And if not THE universe, then at least his own. “Talking about matesprits. Weren't you supposed to fucking confess and shit?” Of course Karkat knew, was his moirail and even helped that clown prepare, offered advice. Even if he had no actual idea who his friend’s red interest was, he would still help with it like a good buddy.

 

“Yeah.” sounded calm and laid back as usual. “Motherfucking been there, brother.” As if it was something trivial and meaningless.

 

“And?”

 

Gamzee didn't even seem angry, maybe just a bit sad. “Didn't work out. Motherfucker said no and fled”

 

Oh.


	6. Stitching up the heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking care of Gamzee's wounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really should get a schedule for writing and rereading my fics cuz i'm a mess  
> i've had that chap almost ready for months qwq sorry for the long wait! thank you all very much for being patient!  
> Enjoy~

Yeah, that didn't sound pleasant at all.

 

Staring at him with actual shock, Karkat sat up and moved closer to his suddenly poor clown who didn't even bat an eye and kept on staring at the water as if Goatdad could appear out of nowhere with a new matesprit on his back, someone who wouldn't reject that purple softie.

 

“Wow. Who the fuck?” mumbling, the crab put his hand on his moirail’s shoulder as a sign of support, ready to pap him if needed.

 

“Eh. Tavbro’s the motherfucker” it almost sounded like nothing in those lips. The cancer choked back some questions like ‘why the flying fuck tavros the cripple out of all the trolls and even humans in the entire damn city???’, he could ask later, not everything at once. For now all he did was cough once and gently pat his friend.

 

“Forget the fucker then. There are better red materials out there, shithead, just gotta open your fucking eyes.”

 

“I motherfucking know, Karbro” the clown responded half-heartedly and shifted. His arms wrapped around his moirail and pulled him closer to finally close the crab in a tight, affection hungry hug while also hiding his own face in the black hair on the back of his friend's head. The cancer knew that fighting would do shit here or worse so he just tolerated being hugged like a giant plush made of emotional support.

 

That kind of explained Gamzee’s clinginess for the last month, all the ‘form the other half of a diamond’ and the bullshit with overly seeking or expressing affection that sometimes leaned towards the red quadrant.

 

“You giant wiggler” as Karkat kept on the quiet murmuring, he soothingly papped the back of his moirail’s hands located on his stomach. “Shush, idiot” yep, the troll was shivering. That's what you get for bringing up the painful things, especially those that had something to do with quadrants. A giant, ‘terrifying’ highblood sobbing like a hatchling. “Shhhhh, it's gonna be okay, dumbass” more muttering followed, mixed with shoosh and paps.

 

A moirail treatment for broken hearts.

 

* * *

 

After that moment of weakness they both, or more like Karkat, decided that the clown was in no condition to drive that day so crabby just said firmly “I'm fucking staying” and no fighting could change that. Dad wasn't responding to his calls so the cancer left a long and apologizing voice message about how Gamzee shouldn't drive at that moment and that he wasn't capable of getting him home. It could've sounded a little bit as if the big guy was drunk or high as clouds but that hardly mattered.

 

Helping his mess get up, Karkat grumbled more swears and insults mixed with shooshes and kept on patting his moirail’s back to calm him while they entered the house.

 

“Okay, asshole, get your shit together and take a shower. But don't you fucking dare touch the injury, got it?” as Karkat snarled, the capricorn simply nodded and headed to the bathroom without a word. That left the crab alone but not for long as he started wandering around the hive, looking for Kurloz, the supposedly smarter of the two Makaras.

 

That guy was really creepy with his skeleton themed clothes and silent walking when every other person couldn't avoid stepping on at least one creaking board in the floor. But Gamzee’s elder brother was a master so that wasn't a surprise when Karkat felt a cold hand on his shoulder while peeking into another room but it still shook him to the core.

 

“Holy fuck!” he yelped, involuntarily taking out his sickle and turned around. The mute clown dodged the attack with ease, not even concerned. “Shit, Kurloz!”

 

‘ _What happened to my brother_ ’ signed slowly so the crab could understand him at least a bit with his somewhat existing knowledge of the sign language.

 

“Ugh. Longass story but he's fine now, calm your tits” grumbled. “Got a first aid kit in this shithole, tho? Gotta change his fucking bandage.” If it didn't sound suspicious then what did. The silent troll frowned, examining the crab with those white and glossy eyes before nodding. Kurloz led his guest to the kitchen where he took out a small box out of the cupboard. That room looked unnaturally clean, a serious achievement when living with Gamz, it was a miracle there wasn't even a single bottle of Faygo in sight.

 

“Thanks” mumbled the crab with a barely heard tint of uneasiness. Yet the clown noticed it instantly and a smile crept onto his painted face, a calm one, not too wide and bright.

 

‘ _You're a’_ signed and a few more hand gestures followed but Karkat had no actual idea what they meant, he was still only a beginner in the ‘soundless’ talking. If it was Gamzee who couldn't speak, he would probably learn more for their moirallegiance to work but communication with the older Makara wasn't that much of an important thing in his life.

 

So he just shrugged it off. “Whatever it was, fuck you”.

 

Okay, Kurloz smiled a bit wider and started spelling.

 

 _‘S-H-I-T-T-Y M-O-I-R-’_ didn't even finish as the other troll interrupted with swearing and furious yelling like it was the end of the world. Wow, that was a pretty impressive performance, the crab insulted the hell out of Kurloz who didn't even flinch, just smiled. The same cool as Gamzee but it definitely wasn't a caste trait, considering the rest of purplebloods and all the stereotypes surrounding them.

 

“...And hope you step on a lego, fuckface!” snarled in the end before heading to his moirail’s block without even looking at Kurloz who signed something and entered the nearest room.

 

Now a little about the clown cave.

 

Definitely too big for his needs and mostly empty, the grey room had two windows on neighboring walls, one with a perfect view on the lake and the other on the sandy beach where they both usually lied and chatted like before that day. That tiny silent thought suggesting that while the moirails had been down there, Kurloz was standing in this block and watching them sent shivers up Karkat’s spine.

 

Next to the beach window stood a black couch that could easily fit three trolls sitting on it, maybe even four. That's also where the crab spent the sleepovers on. By the wall across it was Gamzee’s desk with his new husktop, the old one broke for some reason, possibly a virus. At least now he had something better than that piece of trash, probably the best one among all of his friends.

 

The burgundy colored recuperacoon was standing by the wall across from the lake window. It was covered in posters of juggalos and some colorful hand painted patterns, was it all that guy was wasting all that paint on? No, an easel stood by the window with the better view, covered by a large sheet of dirty fabric. A drawer beside it held all the clothes and had a CD player on top of it. Other canvases piled in the corner, also hidden beneath an old blanket.

 

 

Some bottles of Faygo were scattered on the floor and music blasted from the speakers but not for long as the crab turned it off immediately after entering the block. His dumb moirail was sitting in the coach, smoking, what only caused Karkat to get even more angry.

 

“Making my job even harder is so fucking funny, huh?” and proceeded to snatch the cigarette from his friend’s hands. Gamzee accepted it without even a slightest sign of caring, just stared at the ceiling full of many swirls and patterns. “My dad’s fucking right about one thing, though” said the crab, pretty easily drawing the attention onto himself. “You gotta stop with that shit, your health’s a mess” grumbled and flopped onto the couch next to him to lean against its back in the same position as his buddy, staring at the colors above them. “You're worrying me fucking enough without that.” added before giving his friend a look.

 

Closed eyes.

 

“If you're sleeping, I fucking swear to gog-”

 

“Nah, Karbro, just thinking” the clown smirked slightly without lifting his eyelids.

 

“Not even gonna ask about what, just fucking hoping it's not about slime or more harmful shit” snarled while opening the box and started looking through the medical equipment Makaras had prepared. There was a quite frightening amount of calming intravenous injections and tranquilizers, hell knows what for, but there were also some nice bandages and a pretty good selection of pills for various illnesses. Surely Kurloz’s doing.

 

A roll of bandages out and the box was closed again as that was all Karkat needed at the moment. Carefully the troll started unwrapping the old dressing, watching not to do it too quickly but his purple friend didn't seem to even notice, still lost in thoughts.

 

The wound still absolutely terrified the cancer but looked much better than earlier, already healing. There was no need of stitches here, troll organisms were more used to injuries than human ones, but that didn't change the hard fact that it was still a shot wound and Karkat wouldn't be any less worried even if the bullet had only scratched the skin. Normally at a moment like that he would say something like “Be more careful, dumbass” but here it was clearly inappropriate so he remained quiet until the wound was wrapped in fresh bandages.

 

“Done” just grumbled and sighed deeply. Then he looked up at that painted face and noticed one thing that absolutely enraged him.

 

“Where the fuck?!” snarled, staring at his moirail who calmly let out a cloud of smoke. A freshly lit cigarette between his fingers, hell knows out of where. But all he did after noticing crab’s anger was smirk.

 

“Helps gather the motherfucking thoughts, brother.” said before getting his cancer stick taken from again.

 

“Imma take a fucking shower and if I smell any of that shit when I'm back, I'll get fucking Terezi to nose it out and help me dump all that crap in the lake!”

 

After one last scolding look at the capricorn, he approached the window just to open it as widely as he could and threw both cigs into the water.


	7. Back to school

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamzee's not the best student material.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof  
> *flops on the floor*  
> enjoy

“That. Was. Fucking. Terrible.”

 

“Oh, come on, crabkat, it wasn't that bad!”

 

“Shit, you're right, let me correct myself: IT WAS THE FUCKING WORST. Better?”

 

It wouldn't be an actual beginning of the school year without that one troll rambling and complaining about it all the time.

 

To be honest, the entire ceremony was decent, just all the normal things that needed to be said, rules and this kind of stuff. Now they were heading to their classrooms for introductions and getting to know those they would be stuck with for the next couple of years, hopefully shorter than that.

 

The hallway was filled with students, freshies and seniors, both humans and trolls trying to find their classrooms. And out of all that crowd the only familiar face Karkat could locate was Feferi, not too helpful since she was in a completely different class but at least he had someone to yell at.

 

“I think it was nice and motivating!” smiling brightly she didn't notice Eridan walk past them quickly. The fish troll fully succeeded in avoiding her eyes despite his impressive cape, poor bastard still hadn't gotten over the fact that she brutally friendzoned him that summer. At least he wouldn't have to suffer through being in the same class with her, Karkat noticed him on the list before. The ‘prince’ disappeared in one of the classrooms in the middle of the hallway, also the destination of the crab.

 

“'Kay, that's my shitstop, hope that fucking idiot’s already inside. Good luck with mister double dick there, Fef” added in the end before disappearing in the room which left her in a state of surprise-caused brain lag before she understood what he meant. And it was of course that the fishy troll girl was on a good way to become Sollux’s new moirail, that guy hadn't had a diamond for a long time now but could definitely use one, especially now that he had to take care of something alive that required more than just watering once a day.

 

Karkat looked around the classroom, most of the desks already taken in an old-fashioned caste ladder style, like in the elementary school for trolls. The lower the blood, the further from the board you sit. Of course there were humans in that group as well but they didn't understand that order and just scattered at random, mostly in the lowblood part of the room. As always, Karkat had an urge to go and sit in the corner in the very end, next to those rusts but this time he couldn't do it. The clown was nowhere to be seen so he just took a seat behind Eridan and casually put his legs on the chair next to him, looking around for more familiar faces. Kanaya was sitting with some olivebloods, probably chattering about something completely unimportant and pointless.

 

What was even so good in front chairs anyway, the crab felt uneasy being that close to where their teacher would sit but it also made him feel exposed. No more middle lesson naps or nice talking, it was the time to switch to small messages on scraps of paper.

 

The classroom was almost full, only a few students were missing, including that particular purpleblood diamonded with Karkat. As much as him being late wasn't anything new, it would definitely be appreciated if he appeared ASAP.

 

Even their teacher was already entering the classroom, a pretty tall human guy with short, black and curly hair, wearing a pair of jeans and a white sweater that contrasted with his dark skin.

 

“Welcome on your first year at our school. Name’s Carl Green and I'm your class teacher as well as Biology professor. It's my first experience with a mixed species group.” seemed kind and smiled at the students. “I hope we can cooperate nicely and learn something new about each others.” He definitely wasn't prepared for a bunch of aggressive trolls but would probably realize that sooner or later. “Remember, if you have any questions, don't be shy.” Silence. Some students were whispering but that didn't kill Carl’s spirit. “Okay, then, I introduced myself, now it's your turn. Let's start with the end of the class. Name and a few words about yourself, please.” ended with a wave towards the rustbloods.

 

Some highbloods looked genuinely surprised as it was clearly a disrespectful move towards the hemospectrum system but only a few actually growled something. Eridan was almost shaking at that act of ignorance and seemed ready to yell at their peasant teacher.

 

“Calm your fins, fishstick” Karkat grumbled quietly and kicked the other troll. “He's not being an asshole, just doesn't know that shit.” whispered, completely not listening to the introductions. Would probably try to ignore it till its green or bluebloods since that's close to him… It surely felt weird to suddenly jump from the deepest bottom onto a position of a highblood, right below the sea dwellers.

 

Greens, Kanaya was making an appearance. And the high on slime giant still wasn't there. Late on the first day? Not a good sign at all.

 

Blues. One of the troll was from that family opening a new grubplace and completely indiscreetly advertised it, even with some success. Another one was running a small café with their moirail, sounded like a peaceful and super boring place.

 

More trolls and kids, slowly and inevitably getting closer to the crab.

 

Right in the middle of an indigo’s sentence, the door suddenly opened and the entire class went silent. Here he was, Gamzee in all his disgrace and craziness.

 

“Sorry to be late, motherfucker.” said with a slightly apologetic smile, causing the teacher to freeze in surprise, definitely not expecting a student to casually call him like that. Clown’s height could also be at fault, those long horns didn't help. More, the purple was soaking wet, slowly drying but still.

 

“I was fucking waiting for you, asshole!” through that silence tore cancer’s yelling who almost stood up as his face went red with fury. “And what the fuck is wrong with you, crushed your car in a fucking lake or some shit?!” as if they were at home. The teacher opened his mouth to say something but closed it and tried to process the situation once more.

 

“Yep, Karbro, motherfucking right as always” grinned as a baby that had just got a new giant toy.

 

“Wait, what the fu-”

 

“Okay, kids, I think it's enough of that. I thought that it was obvious but seems like we need to officially state it - no swearing when any of the school staff members is present. Breaking it will be punished just like any other.” the teacher finally stepped in. “Mister…?”

 

“Gamzee. Gamzee m- Makara” still grinned like an idiot and stood by the door to the hallway.

 

“Mister Makara, since it's the first day, I'm only reminding you that school starts at eight am and you're supposed to be here before that time. Now take a seat and let's resume the introductions.” obviously ignored the part about crushing in a lake and Karkat’s shocked face, probably assumed that was a clown joke but with Gamzee it could be also fully true.

 

The angry indigo grumpily finished and the introduction moved on to purples. Besides the moirails there was only one other purple with a weird dog-like hat as well as matching feetpaws. That guy mumbled something pretty quickly, definitely not feeling safe with so many trolls around and sat back down again, the time came for the capricorn. Crab had to nudge him because his moirail got lost in a daydream or something equally attention draining. Great first impressions there.

 

“Gamzee Makara” repeated himself. “I like motherfucking slam poetry and wanna paint all the wicked wonders of thetworld in the motherfucking future.”

 

The rest of the class could actually hear Karkat’s giant facepalm as soon as the swears came out of his friend's mouth. There's no chance of teaching him not to use that word, everyone tried, no one succeeded. The clown only stopped it when really serious and the situation demanded it.

 

Even the teacher could notice that and just sigh, probably thinking that trolls being an aggressive species, also swore and fought a lot. Not entirely true but enough.

 

“Karkat Vantas.” grumbled while standing up, all eyes immediately focused on him. “I'm minding my own fu- business and my hobbies are my f- hobbies.” almost snarled before immediately flopping back on the chair, not caring enough to look at Carl and see his reaction.

 

The last one was Ampora, that guy wouldn't miss even a single second to brag about his achievements on the sea or other fishy stuff he'd done or wanted to do. That introduction was longer than all purples’ put together but at least it cut the remaining time short, the bell rang barely a minute after the sea dweller sat down. Break time!

 

Time to pray for some invisibility powers.

 

* * *

 

“Remind me again, why the fuck did I agree for shit so stupid?”

 

The crab had no trouble with remembering the moment when his moirail convinced him to sign up for that but needed to vocalize his frustration.

 

“You were motherfucking looking for shit to do after school, Karbro” grinning like an idiot he was, Gamzee smeared some more sapphire blue on the canvas in an almost ignoring manner as if he didn't care what his fingers were doing.

 

Art classes. Dad wanted his boy to attend at least one additional subject and the cancer seeked something easy to ignore. But it turned out he actually had to do something during those two hours.

 

“Urghhhhh” growled and threw the brush into a glass full of dirty water. “Thirty more fucking minutes and that crap’s over” grumbled and peeked at his friend’s canvas. “How the fuck.”

 

The fact that even the clown was better in putting some colorful liquid onto a white surface drove him even more mad. On Gamzee’s easel a bouquet of colorful flowers was blooming, each had a different color and pattern, none of them repeated. And it was painted with fingers, all brushes fully clean in the cup.

 

“Honk” was a response as he continued to add tiny details with his pinky finger, still giving an impression that there was no effort put into the art piece.

 

In the meantime on Karkat’s canvas there was a bunch of weird shapes and patterns as he tried to make it look like a professional painting of a skilled artist. Emphasis on 'tried'.

 

“How the actual flying fuck can you paint?!” snarled. “I thought all you fucking do is smear paint on walls and shit.”

 

His moirail only chuckled at first, adding some tiny black dots in the middle of a yellow flower. “Just fulfilling the motherfucking orders, Karbro. Painting all the wicked miracles messiahs want me to paint. But when motherfucking home, brother.” ended with a lazy smirk and a look at the cancer who now looked a bit curious. Sure, he’d seen the canvases but never the finished art pieces.

 

“Will you fucking show me one day or keep all the shit to yourself?” grumbled causing a burst of quiet laughter from the purple.

 

“Sure, Karbro, but you're not motherfucking ready. One day, but not motherfucking today.” his voice was getting quieter with the last few words as he focused on detailing the bouquet that already looked marvelous.

 

“Urgh, whatever”

 

As he picked up his brush again, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Someone made a memo on pesterchum and invited the entire class, most likely a human. Not giving it even a second of attention more, crabby typed a “fuck off” and left it, how did they even get his trolltag.

 

In the same time Makara took out his own phone on the sound of a notification.

 

“Those think-panless idiots?”

 

“Nah, Kurloz asking about motherfucking shopping.” the clown and started typing the response.

 

In the meantime their art teacher came by and as much as she disapproved their behavior, Gamzee’s art brought a smile onto her lips. Yup, that guy definitely was going to become her favorite student, no doubt.

 

“Okay, Karbro, let's finish those motherfucking pictures and get some grubs, whatcha think, motherfucker?” said while grinning at his friend who huffed in response.

 

“Not today, shithead. Promised dad I would be home early as fuck” grumbled “Giant cleaning up, throwing out the useless shit.” Got an understanding nod in response, followed by the troll wrapping his hand in a towel to wipe the paint what reminded Karkat about something else.

 

“Hold on, clownass. How’s your arm? And what was that shit in the morning?”

 

“Huh?” almost as if he was in a completely different dimension, Gamzee’s face looked puzzled for a second before a nonexistent light bulb lit up.

 

“All motherfucking healed, brother” smirked and rolled up his sleeve to show the place where Spades shot him. Just a nasty scar remained, probably to haunt the mutant troll’s dreams till the end of time. “And the morning, ya motherfucking guessed, best friend, crushed in the motherfucking lake.”

 

“Then how the fuck did you get here?”

 

“By motherfucking car”

 

Facepalm. “But how the frigging fuck if you crushed in the lake.” growled, clearly losing patience.

 

“I crushed, Karbro, not the motherfucking car”

 

“I fucking can't with you, idiot”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The doggo purple is actually one of my fantrolls but no worries, i don't he's gonna appear again :p


	8. Grub problems and thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux does his best while Gam's being creepy as usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before posting this chapter, the fic here: 16k words  
> my doc atm: 34k

“You sure it's still fucking alive?”

 

“Language, Karkat”

 

Here they were, just a few days into the school year but already learning for various classes they had. Gamzee and Karkat had grabbed some sandwiches and settled in the nearest park since with his dad’s new rules they had no time to get to the beach. A bit later, John joined them, Sollux following in a few minutes. As much as the crab wanted to insult the human boy out of there, that giant diamond wall stood between them, shamelesham shooshing and patting when needed. So of course the cancer had to stay calm, it was really embarrassing and they weren't the only trolls in the park! But they all stopped reading their books as soon as the gemini came into sight with an open bag on his chest and a wooly hoof-beast lusus with a long tail and huge fangs not leaving his side. It seemed suspicious and careful, keeping as close to the troll as possible but didn't hesitate to bear its razor-sharp canines at others who dared to even look their way.

 

Although, that was understandable as in that orange bag, partially hidden in soft bedding, was a pitifully small grub in a burgundy color with tiny horns. Even its face was red as it tried its best to remain in the land of dreams despite all the noise around it. A wriggler so small wasn't an everyday sight so it was no surprise that it brought everyone’s attention.

 

“It won't remember shit, Sollux. And are you fucking sure it's okay?” grumbled, seeing the troll-bug shift a bit but the eyes remained closed.

 

“Yeah, the’th jutht young. Had thome health problemth but it’th all good now.” said with a smile, definitely proud of that poor little thing.

 

“Hold the fuck on. Isn't it like a month old already or shit?”

 

“The, idiot. And yeah, only thlightly lethh- almotht a month old.” corrected himself noticing their confused looks.

 

“Don't fucking spit on… her” the crab snarled, immediately causing the lusus to growl and position itself between the trolls, ready to defend its family.

 

Gamzee started casually petting it like it wasn't a furious beast ready to bite his hand off.

 

“Hey, guys?” Of course Egbert had something to say on the matter. “I have a test on troll biology and behaviors soon…” and as Karkat opened his mouth to snap at him, the boy finished. “How does it actually work with grubs and lusii? I hope to get some additional points”

 

“It’th thimple” Sollux just said while taking out a pack of snacks to feed the angry hoof-beast.

 

“Just motherfucking miracles”

 

“Wow, fucking helpful much” grumbled the crabby. “Okay, idiot, open your hear ducts because I won't fucking repeat myself. A pair of matesprits or rarely kismesises go to the fucking woods and finds a wriggler. But this asshole is an idiot and took the most fucking pitiful of them all.”

 

“Uh. And what about the lusus thing?”

 

“Holy crap, are you stupid or pretending. Lusii are fucking guardians. Like dads or moms, but for wigglers and idiot trolls who can't take fucking care of themselves.”

 

“So, when they are no longer needed, they like… leave?” the boy was actually noting all of that, hopefully excluding the swears.

 

“Stay or leave if they fucking want to. If they don't die in a really shitty way firstfbut that's super fucking rare now.”

 

In a corner of his eye Karkat noticed a slight change, while his moirail didn't stop petting the hoof-beast, his moves changed from casual ruffling to slow caressing, something unnoticeable for anyone else. It calmed the wooly creature as if transferring all the anxiety to the crab.

 

“Okay, it was super fucking nice and all but we gotta go. Gamz.” before the purple’s mind registered what actually happened, Karkat dragged him away from the white animal, grabbing their bags on the way. Threw a quick “bye” over his shoulder and took his moirail away from Sollux and the surprised boy.

 

“What happened?” asked John but immediately focused all attention on the tiny grub which slowly opened its eyes. Karkat was right, she wasn't looking like a wriggler should, must’ve hatched too early. Happens, those usually don't make it too long but thanks to its guardian, maybe this one actually would survive.

 

“Uh. Makara’th luthuth left him. Bathically thaved him ath a grub, thowed up onthe or twithe and dithappeared.” the troll explained, taking out a small packet from the side pocket of his bag. Had to give her medicine and food every few hours since she was too weak to walk and very scarcely squeaked for it on her own. He carefully unwrapped the paper and picked one pellet between his fingers while hiding the rest again. Pricey stuff but at least worked.

 

“Actually, if she's sick, shouldn't she be at home?” the boy asked while staring at the grub with curiosity. In the meantime her guardian ground the medicine into tiny crumbles so she could easily gulp them.

 

“Yeah but gotta do thopping and dad’th not at hive” explained as he fed the wriggler slowly and carefully. “But right after that we're going home.”

 

“Oh, okay”

 

Suddenly the poor hatchling started quietly coughing and wheezing frantically, her face getting even more red than before as she was gasping for air. It seemed not to be a new or unexpected issue because Sollux immediately picked her up and started massaging her tummy with one finger, watching not to squish her like a fly. After some gentle rubbing and John asking a bunch of panicked questions, the grub finally got out the piece of food stuck in her throat but immediately also brought up at least half of the meal she’d just had, straight onto her bedding.

 

“Uhhhh. I guethhh- I think I thould call dad and take her to the hothpital again. They are quite utheful.” mumbled calmly but couldn't hide the worry on his face. “Bye, Egbert” added quickly and after putting the wriggler onto the clean part of her portable bed the troll and the lusus quickly headed out of the park with Sollux taking out his phone on the way.

 

The Captors definitely had a lot on their plates.

 

* * *

 

Purples didn't have as easy as everyone assumed. Their bloodbound lusii being aquatic didn't help and most of them was either really clumsy on the ground or couldn't come out of the water at all.

 

All the crab knew was that Gamzee was alone for quite a while, enough for his survival to be considered a miracle. The clown also found his lusus in one of the worst ways possible, almost killed himself to be specific. His tiny and dumb grubself fell into a small river that carried him to the lake. He almost drowned but Goatdad saved his purple bugbutt just in time. Then he stayed and cared for the wriggler until Kurloz found them. The lusus accompanied them for a few more weeks before disappearing and despite the fact that Gamzee was little, the troll remembered his guardian perfectly and quickly formed a bond. Or at least he thought so but it couldn't stop him from believing that one day his Goatdad returns as his only family was Kurloz, no proper dad figure.

 

These informations made it slightly painful to leave the tall troll every day as well as explained those sudden clinginess attacks he had from time to time. Getting scarcer but never fully disappeared.

 

“Hey, shithead?”

 

They were sitting in Makara’s car in the parking lot as they didn't have the time to go to the lake but it was still too early to go home.

 

“Ya motherfucking calling?” mumbled that half-asleep clown with a lit cigarette in his teeth as raised his head, still leaning on the door with head poking out through an open window.

 

“If there happens a fucking day when you're finally fucking responsible enough to get a grub, please, for the love of whatever’s holy to you, don't take the weakest fucking grub ever because those are a pain.” In the heart.

 

“So we're getting a motherfucking grub?” and Gamzee smiled right before yawning widely. The cigarette fell out of his mouth, onto the ground.

 

“I've just fucking told you. No, you're not responsible enough yet, you fucking idiot” growled his companion and glued his eyes to the dirty ceiling of the car.

 

“But why, Karbro? I'm motherfucking hungry…”

 

“Holy fuck, Gamz, you're scaring the crap out of me when you say shit fucking randomly like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first chapter in 2k19 wooo!


	9. Pesterlogs without answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where there are good and bad news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PESTERLOGS IN THIS ONE WOOOO  
> I TRIED TO MAKE THEM FANCY  
> i think i succeeded  
> enjoy~!

 

Sollux didn't show up at school the next day but Carl informed them all that it was a family related situation. However, their teacher didn't want to give away any more information or probably just didn't know anything because his face expressed only confusion when asking about the wriggler. At least there was also Feferi.

 

“She’s fin-e. Sol decided to stay with her at the hospital, though, glub.” she revealed during the lunch break. “I'll be visiting them after classes, want to come as well?” suggested while munching on her sandwich and looking at the rest of them. John immediately nodded and started talking his girlfriend into it as well.

 

“Ugh, sure, why the fuck not” rumbled the crab and bit into the fried bug he had bought before school. His giant just nodded, mouth already full of food which got him a black-hearthy complaint from his moirail.

 

“Really, guys” Vriska stopped eating for a while. “Sometimes I think you're secretly calignous.”

 

“Actually, we're a mind-your-own-business, bitch” the crab snarled in response, ready to pick up a fight with her if had to. But before he moved, his mind’s gone completely blank for a second. Or at least it seemed, because when he regained his grasp on reality, the grub was completely squished in his fists, the liquid dripping onto his clothes freely.

 

“Fuck, urghhh, you…!” growled while she giggled on the situation. To add to the weirdness, Gamzee leaned to him and grabbed the remains of the bug from his hands with teeth. “Hey!” the crab bared his fangs and was going to start throwing insults at the purple but the bell signaling the next lesson brutally interrupted him.

 

“Okaaaay, I'll be floating outside after biology, bye!” the fuchsia troll eyed them with a scolding look and got up to head to her classroom in hurry. Vriska followed quickly with John after her.

 

Karkat definitely didn't want to go with so big grub sauce stains on his sweater but had no choice. Gamzee’s staring didn't help, it was almost as if he wanted to lick it off the sweater.

 

The giant slowly started leaning closer.

 

“Do fucking not.”

  


* * *

  


The last lesson dragged for what seemed to be much longer than it actually was. Gamzee made weird comments completely irrelevant to the subject but Karkat just nodded and ignored his babbling until that high pitched sound finally cut through the air. All the trolls and kids immediately started shoving their books and notebooks into their backpacks while their teacher yelled the homework. Wonders of school.

 

Right after exiting the building, a pretty saddening situation came into sight. Eridan had somehow gotten out of classroom faster than them and was here now, talking to Feferi. John or Vriska were nowhere to be seen. The princess appeared to be getting more and more annoyed with each word leaving the other troll’s mouth but they were too far to hear anything. As Karkat and his moirail headed towards them, the girl finally snapped and hissed something what caused the Ampora to flinch. They were in earshot now but no more words were told, enough had already been said. Without a goodbye, Eridan simply went away as if nothing happened.

 

“What the fuck?” mumbled the crab, seeing how Fef was shaking. It wasn't normal, usually she was one of the nicest and calmest trolls.

 

“That glubbing…!” gritted her teeth while also perking up her fin-like ears but they fell pretty low after a few seconds. “Ughhh… I need to talk to him” muttered with a grimace as if half of her dearly despised that fishtroll. “I guess I'll visit Sollux’s wriggler tomorrow then. You can go now if you want, I'll send you the address.” she said as her eyes were still focused on the cape in the distance.

 

“I have better shit to do anyway” grumbled the cancer while Gamzee seemed lost in his own thoughts. Feferi nodded but before she took a step away from them, the clown spoke.

 

“Let's visit the motherfucking grub, brother” oh?

 

Genuinely surprised, Karkat looked at his friend, trying to read something from that sleepy face but the capricorn looked like usual, smiling at them like nothing bad was happening.

 

“Sure, whatever” groaned his moirail and looked at the troll girl who took out her flip phone and started typing the street name.

  


* * *

  


Just a half an hour later they arrived at the parking lot next to the giant white building. They would've been there sooner if not for traffic and Gamzee forgetting the directions a few times.

 

The trolls left the car among a few others and entered the hospital. It was still quite new, possibly one of the best equipped hospitals in the country. Most trolls were still stuck in the past and tending to their wounds and illnesses on their own, hence there were mostly humans there. It doesn't mean there were absolutely no trolls as Karkat noticed a jadeblood doctor and a burgundy nurse. He asked for… Well, he didn't even know the wriggler’s name. He'd have to ask Sollux when he finally shows up.

 

After a few minutes of searching, they found him, sitting on one of the chairs in the corridor, half asleep and probably worried almost to death.

 

“Hey there, motherfucker” smirked Gamzee, jolting the troll awake.

 

“Huh? Oh. Hi. What are you doing here?” asked before a long yawn, that guy surely had been waiting like that for a while now.

 

“That shithead wanted to see how's the wriggler doing” mumbled Karkat.

 

“Thhe'th in that room, just don't touch the wireth.” and pointed at the door next to him with his thumb before leaning on the back of the chair again. The clown nodded and followed the directions, somehow entering the right room but Karkat stayed in the corridor. Something didn't feel quite right here.

 

“What are YOU doing here, idiot” grumbled and flopped onto a seat next to the gemini.

 

“Waiting” responded shortly, not giving his friend even a look.

 

“Tsk. For Feferi? She's busy with friendzoning the fucking prince. Again." snarled.

 

“No. For her.” He tilted his head slightly to point at the door with his horns. 

 

“Yeah. How did you name that wriggler? They wouldn't tell us shit about her, just that your ass’s up here.”

 

“I didn't name her” 

 

Kar didn't expect that. “That's think-pandead, even for you” grumbled the crab. “No ideas or what the fuck?”

 

Silence.

 

“Seriously, what the shit?”

 

“They thaid thhe motht likely won't make it. Tho… there’th no point.” stuttered the troll and glued his two colored eyes to the ceiling, taking off his glasses. It didn't happen that often for Sollux to be sad like that, last time was after Aradia’s passing. That one dragged for weeks before he got himself together. 

 

“Wow, so you want to fucking remember her as a nameless bug? Congrats, moron.” snarled the crab and put his hands behind his head in a casual manner. “Don't you have that weird fucking ability, ‘hearing the voices of soon to be dead’ or some shit?” looked at his companion. No change in his expression, just a few sparks coming out of his eye.

 

“I do.” seems like chatting, even about something so depressing and dark, helped him a bit. “In the thity thereth always thomeone who'll die thoon tho there’th conthtant mumbling and thhit. But there's one voithe louder than them. I can't tell who it belongth to, though.” said unsurely as if giving it a second thought.

 

“So you don't hear her, probably a fucking car accident victim or some crap. Problem solved.” Karkat stretched and looked at the door. “What's taking that dumbass so fucking long?” grumbled and got up.

 

Gamzee was standing in the room with glass eggs on tables right by the wall. Only one of them wasn't empty, though, it was half-full with sopor slime and had the tiny grub sticking its head out of it. Many wires and pipes were connected to the egg, disappearing in a machine under the table.

 

The wriggler was sleeping. Eyes closed, breath somewhat steady. It was hard to tell whether she would actually live or not but one thing was clear. She would've died a long time ago, like others who hatched too early if not for a certain troll to come that day to the woods and pick her up.

 

What if he came the other day? Or didn't notice her? Or if the old alternian system with jades, broodling caverns and trials still worked? Well, the grub would die. So many possibilities and this one happening where she actually had a chance, a miracle.

 

Live, you motherfucking miracle. 

 

The clown wasn't moving or saying anything, just staring at the wriggler like it was a dessert.

 

“Hey, Gamz, it's getting late as fuck.” mumbled the crab with slight suspicion as his moirail didn't move a muscle. “Gamzee” finally, the purple tore his eyes away from the tiny grub and put on that sleepy face again.

 

“Sorry, Karbro, lost in motherfucking thoughts.” grinned at his friend and headed to the exit without giving the miraculous hatchling even a second more of attention.

 

Sollux was almost sleeping again, where the eff his dad and brother were, Karkat had no idea. Oh, wait, he went past them on the way out of the hospital. Why was every troll higher than him?!

 

“What's our next motherfucking stop?” the clown grinned at his friend who huffed and sat down on the other front seat.

 

“My shithole” grumbled and started messing with the radio to turn it on.

 

“Sure, Karbro”

  


* * *

  


~~terminallyCapricious began trolling carcinoGeneticist at 2:03 AM~~

 

TC: HeY tHeRe KaRbRo :oD

TC: I kNoW yOu’Re MoThErFuCkInG aSlEeP, jUsT wAnTeD tO aSk Ya To GeT sOmE mOtHeRfUcKiNg FoOd CuZ kUrLoZ dIdN’t Do ShOpPiNg

TC: AnD i KnOw I cAn CoUnT oN mY bEsT fRiEnD :o)

TC: nIgHt kArBrO

TC: hOnK

 

~~terminallyCapricious ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist~~

~~carcinoGeneticist began trolling terminallyCapricious at 2:05 AM~~

 

CG: YOU WOKE ME UP, ASSHOLE

CG: FUCKING HELL

CG: AND SURE

CG: JUST DON'T FUCKING TROLL ME SO LATE, JEGUS

 

~~carcinoGeneticist ceased trolling terminallyCapricious~~

  


* * *

  


The hospital was quiet, only rare coughing interrupted the night silence. Corridors were empty as most of the staff were on a break or tending to the patients. Only one troll was sleeping on a seat, waiting for news, good or not. Even in his slumber, his tired face showed concern as he mumbled something quietly between barely audible snores. 

 

A slightly louder sound awoke, his phone buzzing as it was held in his hand on the seat next to him. The screen came to life as new messages came to his trollian inbox. 

 

~~apocalypseArisen began trolling twinArmaggedons at 3:00AM~~

 

AA: hi s0l

AA: if y0ure reading this

AA: shes here with me

AA: but n0t f0rever 0_0

AA: or 0u0

AA: anyway y0u can sleep peacefully

AA: shell be back with y0u s00n

AA: bye

 

~~apocalypseArisen ceased trolling twinArmaggedons at 3:00AM~~

 

A few seconds later the screen turned black but not for long as it lit up again in a while. However, all the messages disappeared, replaced by two simple lines of text:

 

~~terminatedUser began trolling twinArmaggedons at 3:01AM~~

~~terminatedUser ceased trolling twinArmaggedons at 3:01AM~~

  


* * *

  


Something wasn't quite right.

 

It was definitely too early again, as always, school should be starting at like 2pm or something, that would be the perfect hour, everyone would be actually listening to all the nonsense their teacher was rambling, not napping like it was happening now. Half of the class was probably awake until 3am or somewhere around that, Karkat included.

 

Everything was going as usual. So what actually was that “something not right”?

 

Not even the crab himself could tell. His eyes were switching between students until finally landing on the empty seat right next to him.

 

Nothing was wrong, just his instinct going crazy again and Gamzee being late, as always. That day wasn't any different so why was he so anxious?

 

Their teacher came in right before the bell rang to announce the beginning of the lesson. Yay, history time! What a shame they were repeating the same thing kids were taught every year with just small details added or taken. Still it was the same dumb talk about trolls and humans uniting. The cancer groaned in frustration quietly as did some other trolls who were completely done with history and switched his attention to the window. No matter how much boring the view on the parking lot was, it still remained the most interesting thing in the class.

 

Without any particular reason in mind, the crab started eyeing the cars, counting them until the alarm ringing in his brain finally transformed into a metaphorical light bulb above his head in realization. Gamzee’s car wasn't present yet.

 

As the lesson went on and the familiar car wasn't coming, the troll felt even more uneasy. Yes, Gamzee tended to be late but not THAT late. Unless he ‘crushed in a lake’ again? Or overslept? Or both?

 

Watching the teacher, Karkat took out his phone and under his desk started typing.

 

~~carcinoGeneticist began trolling terminallyCapricious at 8:42AM~~

 

CG: HEY, IDIOT

CG: YOU'RE MISSING HISTORY 

CG: YES, I'M MESSAGING YOU, SHITHEAD

CG: I KNOW YOU HAVE THAT DUMB RINGTONE ON

CG: AND YOU HEAR IT DAMN WELL

CG: EVEN THOUGH YOUR CRAPPY RECUPERACOON

CG: SCHOOL

CG: GAMZ FOR FUCK’S SAKE

CG: EARTH TO GAMZEE

CG: JEGUS, YOU IDIOT

CG: I'M GONNA FUCKING SPAM YOU UNTIL YOU DRIVE YOUR DRUGGED ASS HERE OR ANSWER

 

The lesson ended, giving ten minutes for the sleeping students to nap without their professor’s chattering. It also allowed Karkat to type more freely.

 

CG: YOU WANNA MISS THE SECOND HISTORY TOO

CG: OR WHAT THE FUCK

CG: GAMZE

CG: GANZEE

CG: FUCK, GAMZEE

CG: ANSWER, IDIOT

 

Okay, now he was getting simply worried. The clown wasn't getting online, damn, had he dropped his phone through the window or what? Since he still had a few minutes left, Karkat decided to call him.

 

Oh god, that damn waiti-

 

Stop.

 

There was  **no** waiting tune.

 

Absolutely nothing, it immediately said that the phone’s not accessible. He tried a few times until the teacher came with coffee and more useless knowledge to fill their think pans with.

 

Okay, now his messed up moirail instinct was wide awake and working, pumping fresh cold fear into his veins.

 

He tried trolling Kurloz but immediately got a gif from him with a car on a highway. Yeah, wasn't he visiting his matesprit or moirail or whoever that was? Anyway, who cares.

 

That's when a pretty crazy thought crept into his mind, ready to execute a chain of actions that would definitely ground him. When convincing dad to let the clown stay for the night, Karkat had promised he wouldn't ditch school not even once this year. But as minutes passed and neither the car or answers were coming, he couldn't help feeling more and more anxious.

 

Urgh, was it pick up hand first and ask? Hopefully? Now nice tone, nice words, no swearing, teachers didn't like assholes.

 

“Can i go to the f- the bathroom?” kept himself from growling and quietly slipped his phone into the pocket of his jeans. The slightly confused teacher nodded and returned to his pointless babbling about how humans fought for grub rights and failed miserably. Only earned a questioning look from Eridan and Kanaya but no one more gave a shit so he went out of the classrooms.

 

In the corner of his eye, he noticed the janitor sweeping the floor. That old guy would probably stop him immediately of he dared get off the path to the bathrooms so he had to think of something else. He entered the block for boys and thank gog, it was like the universe alone wanted to help him, there was a small window. They would definitely start wondering where he is if he waited too long so without giving it a second thought, the crab climbed through the opening, he would definitely regret that later. No way his dad would just say “k, son, no prob, chum, you had to, i getcha, amigo”, hell no.

 

Well, there's something else he hadn't thought about, money to be specific. Seemed like it was time for some “crouch in the corner of a bus and hope they aren't checking tickets or you're screwed”. At least the bus was due to come in a few minutes so he just hid in the bus stop and took out his phone again. Still nothing.

 

~~carcinoGeneticist began trolling terminallyCapricious at 9:16AM~~

 

CG: ANSWER YOU FUCK

CG: GOG, GAMZ

CG: ONE FUCKING LETTER OR SOME SHIT

CG: DUMBASS

CG: GAMZEE

CG: DAMMIT, GAMZEE

 

Still nothing. Calling got him nowhere, the phone was still dead.

 

After a long ride by a bus and a lot of sneaking, he finally got to the bus stop closest to the lake but still not near. Why did he have to live so far again?!

 

At first he was walking but in a minute his pace went up to running. He promised himself to cull Gamz if he just turned off the phone and overslept but in the same time he hoped it was just it.

 

It felt as if he was running for hours before finally finding the turn that led to the lake, damn, so fricking far. After almost slipping twice on the sand and a few minutes more, the trees finally giving away the view on the beach and-

 

His foot painfully hit a rock and the troll fell onto the ground scraping his palms in the process. Still in the brain lag, Karkat raised his head to actually ensure his thinkpan wasn't playing tricks on him. 

 

It was not.

 

The entire fancy and ancient-looking beach hive belonging to the Makara family for sweeps had collapsed, burying everything it held inside under many heavy layers of debris and bricks, bits and pieces of wood reaching into the air like spikes. Half of it was knocked into the lake, Gamzee’s respiteblock literally crushed and sticking out of the water.

 

Fuck.

 

The brain freeze was passing.

 

“Fuck”

 

Holy shit, no.

 

“ _ But there's one voithe louder than them _ .”

 

Sollux’s words hit him like a brick. He felt sand, dirt and a taste of fabric on his tongue. 

 

“ _ But there's one voithe louder then them. I can't tell who it belongth to, though.” _

 

Phone!

 

Phone.

 

Call!

 

Call who?

 

Call!

 

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the ruins, not even for a second to see which number from the list he chose, like it even mattered, just…!

 

“Karkat? What the-”

 

“D-dad, fuhck…” he mumbled through teeth dug deep into his forearm.

 

“Why the hell aren't you at school?”

 

“Dhad, hofy fuckh iss Gambz” his entire attention was decided between the horrifying sight and talking. “Hall phomehone…! The lhake” bit harder as his voice got stuck in his throat, red streams trailing down his cheeks and onto the ground, he could also feel the taste of blood in his mouth but it was a thing in the background, something trivial and not important. 

 

“Hang on” and Slick disconnected.

 

Just like that, leaving him alone in this place without sound or anyone else to help him but it was a good thing, dad would get help, someone who knew what to do but he was so alone and knew shit about how to react so he was freaking out, letting out muffled swears and sounds similar to a frightened wriggler.

 

He was here.

 

On the ground.

 

Staring at his moirail’s hive.

 

In ruins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw you have a html assignment for school but instead you're coding some troll chats-


End file.
